


Angels' Law

by Rufus98



Category: Charlie's Angels (TV 1976)
Genre: 70s references everywhere, F/F, a crime drama with a love story, blatant and non-compensated publicity for Ford vehicles, logic abuse throughout the story, mashup of plot ideas from seasons 1-5, or a love story inside a crime drama
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-15
Updated: 2017-05-05
Packaged: 2018-08-15 03:32:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 21,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8040856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rufus98/pseuds/Rufus98
Summary: The latest case for the Angels is a very personal one, on multiple levels





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own any rights associated with Charlie's Angels, nor do I profit from writing about them. I'm just a fan of the show :-)
> 
> Most episodes of Charlie's Angels start with a crime, so without further adieu...

"What in the flyin' fu..?" Frank Santana whispered aloud to himself.

He had watched it happen, but had a hard time believing what he saw. The house's appearance, and the Bel-Air neighborhood it was located in, gave the impression of serious money. And that usually meant serious security. But it only took a couple of minutes before the woman he was hired to find seemingly bypassed that serious security, picked the lock on the front door, and let herself in. He checked his watch to note the time; it was five minutes past one in the morning.

Frank was parked across the street and three houses down from where he just witnessed the (still) hard-to-believe B&E take place. Fortunately there were other cars besides his parked in the area, so his car blended in. Sort of blended in he corrected himself. His two year-old Chevy Caprice did look a little out of place among the two Mercedes in front and the sole BMW in back of him (and the Lincoln and Caddie across the street), but he kept his car clean and in good repair. He hoped if someone had really bothered to care about his 'common' car parked among more expensive ones, they would think one of their rich neighbors had a not-so-rich friend. He certainly wasn't rolling in cash, but he was far from starving. Being a private investigator wasn't a high paying or glamorous job by any means, but he felt fortunate he could be selective in the clients he chose to work for and not constantly worry about money; a nice result of his former partnership with Charles Townsend.

Thinking about Charlie brought back fond memories with a knowing grin. It was a little shy of ten years ago they had begun their partnership, and five since they each started working on their own. Their years together were very productive in building clientele, contacts, and income. However, Charlie eventually got tired of doing investigative work himself, and wanted to start his own service with his own crew to work for him. It didn't take long for the both of them to work out a deal (at a very modest price; thank you very much Charlie!), and set him up with a very healthy investigative agency while Charlie went off and did his own thing. They still kept in touch on a monthly basis, and Frank knew Charlie had started his own agency a couple of years ago with three women as his PIs. He guessed Charlie was really into the woman's lib thing by hiring them (what did he call the PIs; his Angels? Right!), and Frank supposed he was okay with that. Just not something he would do though.

Another look at his watch told him it was now ten past one. He'd give her another five minutes before he concluded she really did take out whatever security system the house had installed; or the wail of approaching sirens would prove she didn't.

Frank tapped out a cigarette from his pack of Camels and pressed in the car's lighter. As he waited for the lighter's element to heat up, he thought about that "woman's lib thing". He had just watched a woman enter into a locked and secured house in less than two minutes, seemingly with little effort. He knew more than a few guys that would love the ability to do that! Hell, if push came to shove, Frank thought he could pick the toughest lock out there in under sixty seconds. He wasn't too sure of bypassing an alarm system as quick though. However, he doubted Gloria Steinem would approve of this particular example of a woman performing a job better than a man.

Frank thought he noticed a car stop behind the Caddie parked in back and across the street from him, but he couldn't be entirely sure. It was a slight glimpse of movement in his rear view mirror more than anything, and turning his head to look out the back window didn't reveal any new cars to the immediate area. Another quick scan in front revealed nothing had changed as well. He wondered about the crime rate in this upper class neighborhood, and couldn't remember much of any crime having been reported around here. He did pass a private security car when he first entered the area, but that was about thirty minutes ago and he hadn't seen it since. Maybe the guy makes his rounds every hour?

The car's lighter announced it was ready for use by popping slightly out of its position, and he grabbed it to light his cigarette. He returned the lighter to its spot on the dash and rolled down his window to allow the smoke an exit path out of the car's interior. Taking his second drag off the cigarette, he started to think about how could the woman he was hired to find acquire the skills he just saw her display. Where did she learn them? How long did it take for her to get as good as she appeared to be? Maybe more importantly, who was her possible teacher?

She had been missing for a year, but according to her parents only out of contact with them for six months. Missing was a relative term Frank later found out, and the truth was a fairly typical story: a young woman (Paula Price) had traveled to L.A. from a small town (Newton, Kansas) looking to find fame and fortune. She found neither, but according to her mother Miss Price had found work assisting a clerk who was employed by a lawyer in Burbank. She had written home three times during the first two months away, then only once more before the letters stopped completely. In her last letter she had told her folks to not worry; she was fine, and she wouldn't be writing anymore. L.A. was her new home; she was her own woman, and she had a new life to start. Apparently mom and dad didn’t believe that story.

They had contacted him through another PI they originally tried to hire who couldn't help due to having a full caseload at the time. Frank had only one other case in work (a simple background check) when her parents had gotten in contact with him, and he accepted their request right away. That was almost a month ago, and now he had just witnessed their little girl break and enter into someone's house (quite easily he reminded himself). That's far removed from life in Newton, Kansas he thought as he took the last pull from his cigarette and tossed the butt out the window.

Paula Price hadn't been too hard to find, and Frank wondered why her parents couldn't have done what they paid him to do. Miss Price had mentioned the lawyer's name (Mark Suiter) in her last letter, who actually had a listing in the L.A. yellow pages. His catch phrase "Make the law Suit you!" yelled at Frank not once but twice in the listing when he looked him up. Didn't Newton's public library have major metro city phone books to look through? Or at least have the books transferred to microfiche? Most libraries Frank had spent time in had quite a few out of state big city phone books. Did Newton even have a public library? Frank made a mental note to find out what he could about Miss Price's hometown after that night's surveillance and a good eight hours of sleep.

After staking out the lawyer's office building for the first two weeks, Frank had figured out who the clerk was. The lawyer didn't have many assistants, and fewer yet that were male. He also put a name to the clerk: Alec Steele. And after tailing him for about a week, he eventually caught up with Miss Price. She hadn't changed much in comparison to the year-old picture her parents had sent him, save for changing her hair color from black to dirty blonde. Miss Price also lived in the same apartment building as Steele, which by looking at the entire complex, and where it was located, seemed to be a fairly expensive place to live. How much money did a lawyer's clerk, and a clerk's assistant, make a month? He wasn't sure, but it seemed to Frank either one were living a bit beyond their apparent means. He also wasn't sure if Miss Price and Steele lived together or not, but that item really didn't matter. He was content to follow her around and wait for the opportunity to approach Miss Price about her parent's concerns when he positively knew she was alone. Which she most assuredly was right at the moment: alone, but not in a place where he could talk to her, that's for sure.

The lack of sirens let Frank know Miss Price was as good as she appeared to be. He grabbed the notebook that had been resting on the passenger seat and opened it to write down the latest events of the evening (early morning now!). Not being parked under a street lamp didn't help in seeing what he wrote, but he felt safer in the shadows than if he was in the light. And he was well versed in the shorthand code he used (an idea from Charlie actually, which they both used when they were partners) he could write in almost complete darkness and still be able to decipher it later. He used a separate notebook for each case in work, and only transcribed them to a more permanent form after a particular case was finished. And he sensed this case might have earned itself a new notebook about fifteen minutes ago.

Another movement (or was it?) seemed to catch his eye in the rear view mirror again. Another look around, accompanied by studious listening from the open window revealed nothing. Why was he so jumpy? The night had been calm and quiet so far; pleasant weather; why the nerves? He was certain it was only Miss Price he had followed, and Frank was sure Steele hadn't been with her at any time after she left the apartment complex earlier that evening.

Going back to his notes, he now knew (and wrote down) Miss Price unlawfully entered a home, and if she exited said home with or without any item from inside would determine if she added thief to her list of crimes. And that knowledge made Frank fairly uncomfortable. He was hired to find Miss Price (and he did), but now he had a responsibility to let the police know what she had just performed fifteen minutes ago. This was the first time she had done something like this while he had been tailing her, but for all he knew it wasn't _her_ first time. And informing her parents of this type of nighttime activity (found her; she's sitting in jail because of me) wasn't something he was looking forward to. But if he didn't notify the police about knowing what she had done, he would be considered an accessory after the fact if she was arrested and his name somehow came up. There was no way he was going to lose his PI license over a twenty-something from Newton, Kansas.

When Frank finished writing he slipped the notebook into the 'hiding place' he had mounted under his seat (another habit he carried over from his time with Charlie), and placed the pen he used in his shirt pocket. During one of their earliest cases together he had misplaced, or "lost" as Charlie always corrected him, a notebook that cost the two almost three weeks of case information. So from that day onwards each car they used had 'hiding places' installed, either under each front seat or under the dash. He wasn't going to misplace a notebook ever again.

He lit up another cigarette and checked his watch; it was now almost twenty minutes past one. Looking towards the house, he asked himself what was she doing in there? Was she a very particular thief, looking for that one specific item? Or was she ransacking the place, filling a bag or pillow case she might've picked up with anything and everything that looked valuable?

Then she appeared, stepping out from around the rear of the house with what looked like a small item in one hand. Add thief to her rap sheet he thought. She seemed very careful in moving away from the house, very deliberate in fact. She also appeared to be looking over towards where he was parked. It was almost as if she was looking right at him. Frank began to get a little nervous, even though he was parked in a fairly dark spot. Could she actually see him? Now was not the time to be introduced to each other! She stopped suddenly, and now he was positive she was looking directly at him. He then heard a noise outside his window, and when he turned his head to find its source, he found himself looking directly into a silencer attached to the barrel of a .38 revolver. He never heard the shot that killed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This work has not been beta'd, so all mistakes are entirely self inflicted.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sabrina's morning prior to the briefing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A typical Charlie's Angels episode has a briefing in the Townsend Investigations office following the initial crime, with all the Angels and Bosley listening to Charlie plot out their upcoming case. And that's what I'm going to do here, but in a (hopefully) unique way. The following 3 chapters will be the same 15 minutes prior to Charlie's morning phone call, from each Angel's POV. This should give an idea of how well (or not!) each Angel knows one another, and some insight on how each Angel is different.
> 
> And since Sabrina is, for all intents and purposes, the team's leader, she is the first Angel to arrive at Townsend Investigations...

"Good morning Bosley."

"Good morning to you, Sabrina."

It was 8:40 when Sabrina Duncan entered the main office of Townsend Investigations, located on the second floor of a very spacious Beverly Hills building owned by her employer, Charles Townsend. She headed straight for the bar to check on the two coffee makers (one regular, one decaf) centered on the counter behind it. The timers on each machine were both set to brew at 8:45 that morning, and she wanted to make sure they would follow through with her instructions.

"Charlie still on for 9:00?" Sabrina asked John Bosley, Townsend Investigations' 'man Friday', while she idly played with her Virgo charm necklace currently on the outside of her black and white striped turtleneck. She had originally thought about a blouse and dress jacket for the day, but a glimpse in the mirror behind the bar confirmed her decision of the turtleneck was a satisfying one. The blouse/jacket combo could wait until they were in the field during a case. White slacks and black closed-toe shoes completed her outfit that morning, and Sabrina thought she looked quite sharp for what some would consider a casual look. She paused in thought for a bit. A casual dress code for Mondays in the office? Why not? She'd like that. Kris and Kelly would as well, though their interpretation of casual dress was very different from hers. But it was something to think about, and the freedom to set office policy was one of many reasons she enjoyed working for Charlie. He gave the Angels autonomy in almost every aspect of their job. Now if only she could convince Charlie to replace that god-awful orange Pinto with something more sensible as her company car. At the very least a Pinto in a different color. Orange? Really?

"Still on."

Sabrina glanced towards Bosley, and concluded his short reply was due to the stack of paperwork in front of him and not any animosity directed towards her. The last case was a tough one for all (especially Kelly!), and everyone had a somewhat difficult time relaxing over the two week break Charlie had given them after the case's conclusion. Poor Bos though, paperwork waited for no one, and two weeks' worth looked to be quite a lot at the moment.

"Good morning," Kelly announced as she walked in the office while each coffee maker finished filling their respective pots. She took a seat on the couch closest to the office door, but on the end farthest away from the bar. Wow, some heavy-duty thoughts on that girl's mind this morning Sabrina reasoned.

"Mornin' Kell'," Sabrina replied as she set about getting four coffee cups arranged and prepared. She heard the slightest of sighs escape from Kelly a moment after she had sat down and Sabrina thought Kelly was still trying to relax. Looks like decaf for her this morning!

"Good morning Kelly," Bosley said, glancing up briefly to respectfully respond to Kelly's entrance, then back down to continue his scribbling on the papers in front of him.

"Coffee smells good Bri," Kelly said after almost a minute of sitting in silence.

"Thank you and I agree one hundred percent! Still two sugars?" Sabrina looked at Kelly as she asked, and lifted up the sugar tongs that cradled two cubes.

"Still two, thanks." Kelly looked back at Sabrina, smiled, and then turned away.

Wow again! Kelly must still have some serious thoughts running around in her head. Sabrina couldn't blame her though; she'd have serious thoughts running around in her own head for an extremely long time if she had been called upon to land a Boeing 707 like the one Kelly was forced to at the end of their last case. The worse part for Sabrina during the entire event was the feeling of helplessness while she paced around in the control tower, not knowing what to do, or what she could do to assist the lead air-traffic controller as he talked Kelly into a successful landing. She couldn't imagine the stress involved in having almost fifty lives (including Kris' life!) depend on her doing something she had never even thought about doing. But Kelly somehow did it, and now Sabrina reasoned that event would stay with her for the rest of her life. For better or worse.

Sabrina started to pour coffee into each of the four cups (no spills so far, yes!), and thought about Kelly and Kris, and how their rapport had seemingly changed following that case. She sensed something was just a little different between the two, but not in any way she considered antagonistic. On the contrary.

During the second week of their break, the Angels had gotten together a couple of times at Kris' beach house (Kris called them 'girls' night ins') to lounge around and chat, have a little wine, eat way too much junk food, and just plain r-e-l-a-x. During their last 'night-in' though, Sabrina noticed the two seemed to be more attentive to each other than usual. They occasionally emphasized points in conversation between them by slight touches of a hand, an arm, or a leg. Kris more so than Kelly. And more than a few long looks at each other. They almost appeared… for the lack of a better description: together? Sabrina was the first to leave on each of those nights, and now she wondered how late Kelly had stayed each time. Or did she leave at all on any of those nights? A shared near-death experience could draw two people together. Maybe whatever happened on that airplane changed how they felt about each other? Then again, looking further back, she wondered if there was something between the two even before the Angels had begun their last case.

When Kris first started working for Charlie after taking her sister Jill's place, she seemed to quickly establish a strong bond with Kelly. And Kelly did seem to enjoy working alongside Kris more than Jill, and frankly so did Sabrina. Jill sometimes… well, maybe it was for the better she was racing cars around Europe now. Kelly and Kris appeared to be on the same page on a fairly consistent basis during their cases, and Sabrina wondered if their shared experience three weeks ago cemented whatever bond that had been there seemingly from the start.

At the Angels' initial 'girls' night in' after their first case as a team in Hawaii, Kris did seem to be very friendly toward Kelly throughout the night, almost as if she was crushing on her. Kelly either didn't notice what Kris had been doing, or had kept it to herself if she did.  And over the time since that night (and recent events), their friendship had possibly grown into something more... personal? So what? Sabrina trusted their judgment and professionalism would not allow their 'relationship' to interfere with their work. They both had proven multiple times they had her back when it mattered, and Sabrina was fairly certain that fact wouldn't change no matter what was happening between the two. However, in the back of Sabrina's mind a thought began to nag its way forward: _fairly_ certain was not _completely_ certain…

A shake of her head brought Sabrina back to the present, and to her current task. She placed Kelly's and Kris' full coffee cups at the end of the bar closest to the office door, turned, and just started to pour coffee into Bosley's cup when Kris walked in. Sabrina stopped pouring and looked up as the blonde Angel entered the office.

Kris appeared to be in a very good mood; in fact it almost looked as if she had a bounce to her step. Her wardrobe, however, was another story. Kris was the youngest Angel at twenty-five, but by only a few years (thirty was just around the corner for both Kelly and herself). This morning though, Kris looked like she was young enough to be a freshman in college! Not something Sabrina would wear for sure (frankly she knew she didn't have the figure for Kris' current outfit), and definitely not a candidate for Monday casual. Sabrina began to pour her own coffee after finishing with Bosley's, and reminded herself to speak to Kris if the blonde Angel's future office outfits become any more revealing.

"Morning everyone!" Kris announced as she entered the office.

"Morning," Sabrina and Kelly responded in unison. They looked at each other and smiled.

"Good morning Kris," came from the pile of papers on Bosley's desk.

Sabrina watched Kris walk towards the cups at the end of the bar, smile to her as she picked them up, and walk over to Kelly in seemingly one fluid motion. She handed the brunette her cup, then headed towards the three chairs lined across the front of Bosley's desk.

"Thanks Kris."

"You're very welcome," Kris replied over her shoulder, and sat down in the middle chair. She drank once from the cup, smiled, raised the cup towards Sabrina as a 'thanks, good coffee!' salute, and turned to her right to use the chair's left armrest as a back support. Kris swung her legs over the other chair arm, and rested her feet on the seat of the adjacent chair. Sabrina noticed Kris' feet didn’t quite touch the far chair's arm. Short in stature, but tall in heart and courage she thought. She also noted a slightly pained look on Kris' face as the blonde Angel watched Bosley wrestle with his paperwork. Shorts a bit too tight this morning Kris?

Sabrina also thought she noticed something Kris did when she responded to Kelly's thanks. Did Kris wink at Kelly? Sure looked like it, and it wasn't just a 'between friends' type of wink either. And it looked as if Kelly blushed in reply. Whatever that is possibly between them looks to be still there. Maybe Kris can help with whatever Kelly is going through at the moment. Sabrina would be more than willing to help Kelly as well; all she had to do was ask.

The phone rang exactly at 9:00 and its bell sounded much louder than it usually did. Sabrina thought it was probably due to the minimal conversation going on in the office. Did Kelly jump a little at the sound of the bell? She wasn't positive, but it sure looked like she did. Sabrina picked up the two remaining cups of coffee and headed towards Bosley’s desk. A quick glance towards Kris didn't reveal much other than she was simply enjoying her coffee. Maybe a little too much as she could've sworn Kris now had a slight blush to her face. Is blushing contagious around here? Sabrina took a quick look to her cup. Is it the coffee?

Sabrina set one cup down close to Bosley as she took a sip from her cup. Good stuff (no blush though)! Whoever Mr. Coffee was, she would marry him in a heartbeat! Smiling at the thought of wedded coffee bliss, she watched Bosley pick up the receiver during the phone's second ring and announce "Townsend Investigations." After a pause, he punched a button on a control box that switched a private conversation into a public one, and placed the receiver back onto its cradle.

"Good morning Angels. Good morning Bosley," Charlie announced over the speaker on Bosley's desk.

"Good morning Charlie," the three Angels replied as one.

"Good morning Charlie," Bosley said, and closed up the binder of papers he had been working on the entire time Sabrina had been in the office. Bet he's glad to do that she thought.

"Do you have a case for us, Charlie?" Sabrina asked. She was so ready to get back to work. The two week downtime Charlie had given them all was well deserved, but Sabrina got a bit bored over the last couple of days, and a new case would be the perfect cure for her boredom. She also caught Kris looking at her for a moment, with an expression that seemed like... she wasn't sure, but it almost seemed like admiration. It's just coffee Kris, but thanks anyway! Sabrina took another drink from her cup as Charlie answered.

"I do indeed, Sabrina. But before I proceed I want to ask how everyone is doing. I know the last case was rough on you all, especially rough on you Kelly. I can't imagine what you went through, but I hope the time off helped you relax and recover. Helped you all recover."

"It helped a great deal, Charlie. Thank you." Kelly smiled at the speaker as she replied. Sabrina noticed Kris smiling too, while looking directly at Kelly. Yep, something there she thought again, because Kris' smile seemed more than just a friendly one.

"Good to hear. I want you all to know you are not just employees of my agency; you are my extended family. And I hope you all know your health and well being are paramount to me. I can easily get over losing clients, or money, or whatever, but I could not ever get over losing any one of you. And I almost lost two of you at once." Even though they were broadcast through a speaker, Sabrina knew Charlie meant every word. But there was something else in his voice that was slightly different from his normal bravado. She began to wonder what was going on with her boss.

"But you didn't lose anyone Charlie, thanks to Kelly. She was terrific," Kris said, smiling first at the speaker, then turn to smile at Kelly. Sabrina positively saw Kelly blush this time, and noticed Kelly give a different smile to Kris than she did earlier to Charlie's voice. Then Sabrina caught the slightest of a head shake from Kelly, and Kelly quickly looked away from Kris and over towards the fireplace located against the far wall, centered between the office's two couches. She wondered if Bosley was noticing any of this. Knowing him, probably not she concluded. He was good at working a case and whatnot, but there was a reason he was single.

"Terrific indeed Kris, as you all were. Now, our next case. Bosley, are you ready?" the speaker asked. Again, Sabrina noticed something was off in how Charlie was talking this morning. This case must be a big one.

"Ready," Bosley replied. He pressed a couple of buttons on a panel that sat on his desk, and the lights in the room dimmed while the slide projector behind him sprung to life, revealing the first slide. Sabrina was careful not to get in the way of the image as she walked over to the couch opposite the one Kelly was using, and carefully sat down with her coffee. It was time for the Angels to go to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Angels fans, this case takes place 3 weeks after S2E4 (Angel Flight). However, for the purpose of this story I have added over a year of history of these three working together before that case. I also will refer to events from various episodes (regardless of what season they occurred in) throughout this story. 
> 
> This work has not been beta'd, so all mistakes are entirely self inflicted.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kelly's morning prior to the briefing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The order of introduction in the beginning credits of seasons 2 & 3 of Charlie's Angels was Sabrina, then Kelly, then Kris. If beginning credits can be considered canon, then this story will follow suit. Please remember this chapter takes place at the same time as the prior one, so if the characters appear to be repeating themselves, it is because they are :-)
> 
> Kelly is the next Angel to arrive for work at Townsend Investigations, and apparently she has a lot on her mind...

The delicious aroma of fresh brewed coffee greeted Kelly Garrett as she walked down the second floor hallway towards the main office of Townsend Investigations. And that aroma was a great welcome back to work. She needed to get back into some sort of familiar routine, and Sabrina's superb coffee would be a great way to begin that return to a familiar routine. On the other hand, landing a jumbo jet with absolutely no prior knowledge of how was definitely not routine! And definitely not something she wanted to repeat ever again! Kelly couldn't believe she accomplished what she still considered to be a miracle. She had thought about that miracle every day over the last two weeks after that event, but last week's thoughts of airplanes and landings had company, and it was very welcome (and seemingly more regular) company: Kris.

Kelly's clearest mental image of the entire ordeal was Kris' expression towards her before she attempted to land the airplane. Kelly was in the pilot's seat, with Kris standing behind her holding on to the back of the navigator's chair and a ceiling mounted grab handle. Kelly was about to switch off the experimental device that was controlling the jet (before being rendered unconscious the pilot had called it a 'super auto-pilot') and begin the landing approach when she turned her head to look over her shoulder at Kris. She received a look from the blonde Angel that initially was one of fright, then it instantly changed into a look of trust and confidence (and something else!) in Kelly that she really could do what was needed. Her expression also stirred something in Kelly's heart, something that overcame the fright threatening to consume her. Time seemed to slow down, almost to a complete stop as she looked into Kris' eyes. Those blue eyes had said so much at that moment, and Kelly heard every word…

She quickly turned back around, took a deep breath, and switched off the device. From that moment on things blurred into what now was like an out of focus fever dream. She remembered a voice coming over the cockpit loudspeaker. A white-knuckled grip on the control yoke that made her arms burn with pain. An image of a runway that filled up the windscreen at such an alarming rate she was sure they were going to crash. But somehow she did it; she landed the airplane!

'Get yourself together, Garrett!' she mentally scolded herself. 'Time to go to work!' A quick shake of her head brought her back to the present. Just before she entered the office, Kelly briefly wondered what outfit Kris would be wearing that morning.

"Good morning," Kelly said as she walked through the doorway, and chose to sit by herself as she continued to collect her thoughts. The far end of the couch positioned closest to the office door seemed especially alluring that morning, so she walked over and sat down as she took a quick peek at Sabrina.

The tallest Angel was dressed simply (but sharply) in a turtleneck and slacks, quietly getting four coffee cups ready for use. Even though Sabrina was dressed slightly casually she still gave off an aura of professionalism; a trait Kelly thought came naturally to Sabrina. It's no wonder when Charlie started the agency Sabrina had slipped into the role of lead investigator fairly quickly and easily, and Kelly was very thankful she did. Among the many reasons for the agency's success were Sabrina's leadership, physical ability, and the awareness to think quickly and correctly in any situation. Kelly trusted Sabrina with her life, and she hoped Sabrina had the same trust in return. Her thoughts then returned to Kris, and she sighed with the memory of how beautiful those blue eyes were that day on the airplane.

"Mornin' Kell'," Sabrina replied as she was setting up everyone's coffee.

"Good morning Kelly," Bosley replied, and Kelly returned his smile before he went back to writing on the papers strewn about in front of him. She almost felt bad thinking about the amount of paperwork he does by himself (almost!). There had been times when all the Angels had been knee deep in paperwork; Kelly was glad that morning wasn't one of those times.

'Mmmmm', Kelly said to herself as the scent of fresh brewed coffee continued to fill the office. She had really missed Sabrina's office coffee over the past two weeks.

"Coffee smells good Bri," Kelly proclaimed. She wondered briefly if she should ask Sabrina for decaf, but decided to let the tallest Angel make the choice for her.

"Thank you and I agree one hundred percent! Still two sugars?"

"Still two, thanks." Kelly smiled at Sabrina, and then looked away. Sabrina could read people like a book, and Kelly wondered what type of book she was presenting to the tallest Angel at that moment. Probably something close to " _Sybil_ " she wryly thought.

Kelly was still looking away when she heard Kris announce "Morning everyone!" as the blonde Angel walked into the office.

"Morning," Kelly responded, and turned to smile at Sabrina when she had given Kris the same greeting at the same time. Kelly thought she heard Bosley say something as well.

Kelly watched Kris get two cups from the end of the bar and walk over to present her one. Kelly was initially a bit taken aback when she first saw Kris, because her clothing choice was unique, even for Kris. She wore a white short-sleeved shirt that was fairly tight on her and unbuttoned enough to give a tease of her cleavage; tan shorts that were very form fitting and revealed quite a lot of thigh; almost knee-high socks with a pair of thick-soled sandals. Her long blonde hair was pinned in the front, pulled back, and weaved into one long braid that hung down below her shoulders. Kris was very much the twenty-five year old woman Kelly knew, but at that moment she looked barely nineteen! She also looked more than a bit sexy too, which made Kelly feel slightly naughty with that thought. She felt a blush warm her face as she accepted the cup from Kris.

"Thanks Kris," was all Kelly could say without giving too much away as to what her current train of thought was at that moment. Kelly had pretty much figured out Kris' feelings towards her (the way Kris would look at her, lately with more frequency, told Kelly everything). And Kelly knew her feelings towards Kris went beyond simple friendship, because Kelly _very much_ liked the thought of Kris' attraction towards her. How far beyond simple friendship was still up for debate and the amount of sleepless nights Kelly regularly had debating that subject were far too many to keep track of. At the present time though, Kris' side of the debate was slightly ahead, and the blonde Angel's current outfit just increased that lead.

Kelly had yet to approach Sabrina about how she felt toward Kris (or _even approach_ _Kris_ for that matter!), but Kelly was fairly certain the tallest Angel had a very good idea of what was happening between Kris and herself. Sabrina was a detective, and a damn good one! Kelly also knew they all had to sit down and have a long talk, because she believed a team could not be effective at what they do with unknowns hovering between its members. That should be a _very_ interesting conversation; she just didn't know when it would happen. It was also a conversation she had with herself after the Angels' first case with Kris as part of Townsend Investigations.

Kris had invited both her and Sabrina to her beach house for a 'girls' night in', as Kris nicknamed it, a couple of days after returning from their first case together in Hawaii. It was the first lengthy time the three of them had gotten together outside the context of work, and the first real chance for Kelly and Sabrina to get to know their new teammate. Kelly was very thankful Kris had arranged their get-together, because during their time working in Hawaii there was something about the blonde Angel that made Kelly want to know more about her. Jill had only mentioned she had a sister two months prior to leaving the agency, which made Kelly wonder if that had something to do with Kris, or Jill just being Jill by keeping quiet about personal matters.

As the night progressed, Kelly knew she would become very good friends with Kris the more time they would spend together. Sabrina too warmed up to Kris, and that was no mean feat! To Kelly, Sabrina was one of the best judges of a person's character, and if Sabrina liked a person it was for all the right reasons. It hadn't been easy being thrown together on a case immediately after Jill's departure (Jill Munroe, race car driver!) and Kris' quick introduction to the two remaining Angels, but Kris had proved herself to be a very capable investigator, and on that night also proved to be a very gracious and welcoming host. But there was something else about Kris, and Kelly began to wonder…

There were more than a few times while talking with Kris, when either of them would pause, Kris seemed to smile at Kelly with eyes that were so bright and expressive and alive (and so beautifully blue!), it almost appeared as if Kris was flirting with her. Kelly had pushed each thought away as it came, confident she was mis-reading Kris' non-verbals. However, when it came time for her to leave (Sabrina had already given her goodbyes and was backing the Pinto out of its parking spot), Kris gave her a fairly long (and strong) hug when saying good night. And a smile that, looking back on it, said a whole lot more than just good night.

While in bed later that night, Kelly thought a lot about Kris, and a lot about herself. Had Kris really been flirting with her? She was fairly certain Kris hadn't looked at Sabrina in the same way throughout the evening, but she was still friendly, polite, and responsive towards the tallest Angel. And Kris' good night hug and smile? Kelly knew Kris didn't do that with Sabrina when she had left. So that definitely was for Kelly and Kelly alone. And the biggest thought that kept her awake that night was the realization _she had liked_ the special attention Kris had given her.

Kelly had never thought of the possibility of any type of a romantic relationship with another woman before, but that first night with Kris had seemingly unlocked the door to that possibility. Whether or not Kelly would open that door was a completely different matter, and she had no idea if she ever would. But was thinking about it a step towards placing her hand on the door, to possibly open it in the future? She had no answer for that one either. Kelly finally fell asleep that night (early morning actually), with the thought of Kris' embrace dancing in her mind.

Kris' voice brought Kelly back to the present in a very appreciative way. "You're very welcome," she replied with a wink and a smile that had a nice hint of sexiness to it. Kelly could feel a blush begin to color her cheeks, and immediately wondered if Sabrina saw what was going on.

Kelly took a drink of the coffee (very good!) and had just turned to Sabrina to say so when the phone rang. In the relative silence of the room the phone's bell seemed quite loud to Kelly. So loud in fact she almost jumped off the couch. She turned to watch Bosley announce "Townsend Investigations" into the phone’s receiver, then set up the normal morning phone conference with Charlie. She also noted how Kris was sitting across two of the three chairs in front of Bosley's desk. Kelly smiled, typical Kris!

"Good morning Angels. Good morning Bosley," the external phone speaker announced.

"Good morning Charlie," Kelly replied together with Kris and Sabrina.

"Good morning Charlie," Bosley chimed in, and closed the notebook he had been writing in.

"Do you have a case for us, Charlie?" Sabrina followed up.

Kelly looked directly at the speaker as Charlie replied. "I do indeed, Sabrina. But before I proceed I want to ask how everyone is doing. I know the last case was rough on you all, especially rough on you Kelly. I can't imagine what you went through, but I hope the time off helped you relax and recover. Helped you all recover."

Kelly noticed Charlie’s voiced sounded a little strained as he spoke, but she smiled at the speaker while she replied. "It helped a great deal, Charlie. Thank you." Working for Charlie wasn’t the easiest job by any stretch of the imagination, but the freedom he gave the Angels to perform their work, and the genuine care he showed to all of them made the risks worth it. Even when one of those risks was landing a Boeing 707 (sort of!)! Kelly glanced at Kris and noticed she was smiling at her in a more than friendly way, and could feel another blush coming on. _Kris!_ Enough please Kelly thought, but at the same time she felt excited over the amount of attention Kris was giving her.

Charlie continued. "Good to hear. I want you all to know you are not just employees of my agency; you are my extended family. And I hope you all know your health and well being are paramount to me. I can easily get over losing clients, or money, or whatever, but I could not ever get over losing any one of you. And I almost lost two of you at once."

Kelly watched Kris as the blonde Angel replied to the speaker broadcasting Charlie's sincere words. "But you didn't lose anyone Charlie, thanks to Kelly. She was terrific." Kris turned again to Kelly, and positively got a blush out of the brunette Angel with the smile she flashed at her. Kelly knew Sabrina had to have noticed that! But Kris looked so beautiful laying across the two chairs (those legs!), idly playing with her hair braid as she smiled. Kelly wondered how long it took Kris to braid all of her hair. Did she braid it that morning before work, or last night because of the time involved? Kelly began to imagine helping Kris braid her hair; then she imagined releasing Kris' braid and running her fingers through that long, blonde hair; then she imagined… she shook her head slightly to clear that thought and quickly turned to look at the fireplace, half expecting to see it in use. She could have sworn it was getting quite warm in the office.

"Terrific indeed Kris, as you all were. Now, our next case. Bosley, are you ready?" Charlie asked. Now Kelly was sure something heavy was on Charlie’s mind. This case must be something special.

"Ready," Kelly heard Bosley reply, and then after a beat the lights dimmed and the projector flared to life. She glanced over to watch Sabrina sit down on the couch opposite of her, and quietly wondered how much the tallest Angel knew of what was happening between Kris and herself before her thoughts were interrupted by Charlie as he began to brief their next case. Game time!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just some gee-whiz information (GWI): Kris' outfit is 97% canon (shirt & shorts not as tight, hair pulled back but not braided) from S3E6 (Winning is for Losers). Her using two chairs as a chaise lounge is 100% canon from the same episode :-)
> 
> More GWI: Kelly wore almost the exact same outfit in S4E11 (Angel Hunt) as Kris wore in S3E6, with the only exception being Kelly's white shirt was long-sleeved (she did have them rolled up). Says something about their relationship? ;-)
> 
> This work has not been beta'd, so all mistakes are entirely self inflicted.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kris' morning prior to the briefing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I recently revisited the series to refresh myself with Charlie's Angels canon, I fell in love with Kris Monroe. Her quirky character found its way to my heart very easily, and I can totally understand why Kelly fell for her (at least in my world!). Her introductory chapter isn't quite as long as Sabrina's or Kelly's, but that is okay because Kris will have a big role as the case unfolds. Please remember, the events below take place at the same time as the prior two chapters.
> 
> The last, but certainly not least, Angel to arrive at Townsend Investigations is Kris. And she's feeling pretty good about things...

As Kris Munroe walked through the lobby of the Townsend Investigations building, past the receptionist (who she gave a friendly smile and morning greeting to), and began the hike up the stairs towards the main office, she knew she was still on time. The last to arrive, but not late at least. She was excited to get back to work and to possibly start a new case. She wasn't excited about being on a case three weeks ago though…

The events of that day now thankfully seemed like a blur to Kris, but one specific moment was still very distinct in her memory: Kelly's look to her while seated in the pilot’s seat before she took control of the airplane. Her expression to Kris was a jumble of emotions, with fear being the most prevalent. That initially frightened Kris, because she had never seen a look like that from Kelly during the eighteen months of knowing her. Kris responded with her heart before her head and returned Kelly's look with one of confidence, strength, trust, and a feeling that she had kept bottled up inside her that finally escaped at that moment: love. Kelly's eyes had widened for a brief instant, and then she quickly turned back around and did what she had to do to land the airplane.

Thinking back on it as she finished the climb up the steps to the second floor, she realized Kelly had become a very special person to her (hell, she loved her!) and Kris believed Kelly felt close to the same in return. Not that Kelly had come out and said as much to the blonde Angel, but body language can speak very loudly in some people, and Kelly's body spoke volumes. Even when her actual voice merely hinted.

Kris paused just before reaching the double door entrance to the office and again thought about her feelings towards Kelly. And those feelings began, well, at the beginning…

The beginning was the first time she hosted a 'girls' night in' at her beach house after their case in Hawaii, and Kris had believed by the end of that night Kelly was the most beautiful woman she had ever met. Her soft, slightly whispery voice and oh so expressive green eyes drew Kris in as a sweet flower draws in a willing honeybee. On more than one occasion Kris had to almost force herself pay attention to Sabrina because of her growing attraction to Kelly.

Kris had never put much faith in the old saying 'love at first sight' before that night. And technically it wasn't her first sight of Kelly either (but she wasn't counting), but after spending such a wonderful evening with Kelly (and Sabrina too) and after giving Kelly a good night hug (and a smile she hoped said a lot more), she had begun to give weight to that old saying. She had also hoped her outward display of affection wouldn't scare Kelly away (it didn't thankfully!).

Over the course of their time together after that night, both on and off duty, she had become more and more sure of that old saying's merit. She so wanted to tell Kelly about that old saying at the end of their 'girl's night in' last week, but as she said goodbye to the brunette Angel she had lost her nerve to say anything other than goodnight. She hoped her smile to Kelly would be enough (the sparkle of Kelly's gorgeous green eyes in return told her plenty!). That memory gave her a little more spring to her step as she strode towards the entrance of the main office.

"Morning everyone!" Kris said as she walked into the room, and smiled when the other two Angels responded with "Morning" at the same time. She noticed Kelly's and her coffee cups at the end of the bar, picked up both while giving Sabrina a 'thank you' smile and nod, and continued over to where Kelly was sitting on the couch, all without breaking stride.

As Kris handed Kelly her cup, she could tell from the look in Kelly's eyes her wardrobe choice had the desired effect Kris had wanted. Yes! And that put Kris in an even better mood. She also wondered what Sabrina's thoughts were about her current outfit. Definitely not the same as Kelly's, but hopefully not too upsetting. Don't want to piss her off, that's for sure! She had seen Sabrina mad on more than one occasion, and that was one emotion she didn't want to be on the receiving end of, ever.

"Thanks Kris," Kelly said to her. Kris could tell Kelly’s eyes were saying a bit more than just thanks, and that emboldened Kris.

"You're very welcome," Kris replied, and gave Kelly a wink and a smile that Kris hoped looked sexy in a slightly naughty kind of way. Kelly's cheeks responded as she had hoped (mission accomplished!), and Kris made her way over to the chairs lined up in front of Bosely's desk before she embarrassed Kelly more than she had intended. Kris noticed Bos was very immersed in whatever paperwork Charlie had given him to do before the morning phone call, and she felt somewhat sorry for him. Why doesn't he convince Charlie to hire an assistant to help with that? Even a temporary hire would be useful.

While using two chairs as one recliner, Kris had her first drink of coffee, and lifted the cup to salute Sabrina on how well it tasted. During her second drink, she thought how sexy Kelly looked that morning, dressed in a dark brown silk blouse (opened quite low actually; nice!), brown slacks, and brown flats. Earth tones complimented Kelly's natural beauty very nicely, and Kelly's flowing, slightly longer than shoulder length dark brown hair was the proverbial cherry on top! Kris smiled, and felt a blush of her own warm her cheeks. She began to imagine what Kelly would look like with that beautiful hair in a braid when the phone rang; quite loudly it seemed.

"Townsend Investigations," Kris watched Bosley say into the receiver, then put the call on speakerphone. A glance at the clock above the main door reaffirmed the time of Charlie's call: 9:00.

"Good morning Angels. Good morning Bosley." Charlie's voice was very familiar to Kris, but it drove her crazy she had never seen the man. Someday she vowed!

"Good morning Charlie," Kris replied, and smiled at the other two Angels who had replied in unison with her. Three of a kind she thought; Charlie's three Angels.

"Good morning Charlie," Bosley replied as he put away the paperwork. Kris noticed Sabrina had moved out from behind the bar to stand next to Bosley's desk, and had placed Bos' coffee cup close to him. Sabrina was always taking care of or looking out for all of them at Townsend Investigations; even simple tasks as providing everyone's morning coffee filled Kris with a sense of security. Secure in the knowledge that Sabrina would always be there for her and Kelly (and Bosley too) no matter what, and that thought solidified Kris' determination to do the same. No matter what.

"Do you have a case for us, Charlie," Sabrina asked. Looking at her, Kris knew Sabrina was as eager to get back to work as she was. Sabrina's take charge persona and to the point attitude had impressed Kris from day one. Still did. The Angels were a solid team, and to Kris there was no doubt as to who was its captain.

"I do indeed, Sabrina. But before I proceed I want to ask how everyone is doing. I know the last case was rough on you all, especially rough on you Kelly. I can’t imagine what you went through, but I hope the time off helped you relax and recover. Helped you all recover." Charlie's words were very honest and more than a bit comforting to Kris, and a quick look towards Kelly revealed she felt the same way. She also thought Charlie didn't seem to sound like his usual self that morning, or at least his voice didn't sound as it normally did coming out of the speaker.

"It helped a great deal, Charlie. Thank you." She watched Kelly's reply to Charlie, and gave her a smile. Kris knew the time off helped Kelly a great deal. Helped them all.

Charlie spoke again. "Good to hear. I want you all to know you are not just employees of my agency; you are my extended family. And I hope you all know your health and well being are paramount to me. I can easily get over losing clients, or money, or whatever, but I could not ever get over losing any of you. And I almost lost two of you at once."

Kris knew exactly how to reply to Charlie. She looked at the speaker while she tickled her chin with her hair braid as she spoke, "But you didn't lose anyone Charlie, thanks to Kelly. She was terrific." She turned to look at Kelly, and gave her a smile that she hoped would remind the brunette how terrific she really was. Terrific then and pretty damn terrific right now. Kelly returned her smile, and seemed to look at Kris more intently for a moment before turning away. Kris noticed she was blushing big time as she turned her head, and wondered what had she been thinking about just before the fireplace became so important to look at.

"Terrific indeed Kris, as you all were. Now, our next case. Bosley, are you ready?" Charlie asked. Again, Kris thought his voice was just not quite normal this morning.

"Ready." As the lights dimmed and the slide projector started up, Kris rotated to a somewhat normal seating position in the chair she was using, and began to study the first image. Here we go, she thought, drinking the last of the coffee in her cup. Next case, next adventure. Hopefully no airplanes in this one!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kelly's penchant for wearing earth-tone colors is canon all through seasons 2&3\. Then the 80s hit hard and everyone's wardrobe suffered for it!
> 
> GWI: At the end of S1E4 (Angels in Chains), one of the inmates the Angels befriended during the episode is introduced during the epilogue as Townsend Investigation's first receptionist. Her name is Linda Oliver, and she was portrayed by the lovely Kim Basinger. I'd smile to her too Kris!
> 
> This work has not been beta'd, so all mistakes are entirely self inflicted.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie briefs the Angels on their next case

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now it gets personal...

"Angels, this case is a special one to me. Very special in fact, because I'm your client."

As soon as Charlie said "special" the first time, Sabrina recognized the man in the image projected on the screen. "Charlie, isn't that Frank Santana? Your partner when you started as a PI?"

"Yes Sabrina, it is. Or was it pains me to say. It saddens me very deeply to tell you all he was found dead this morning. Murdered actually. Sometime late last night or early this morning he was shot in the head while he sat in his car, parked in a neighborhood where murders just don't occur. I don't know much more than that, but I will, trust me. That is why I'm hiring you, Angels, to find out everything that caused Frank's death and help bring whoever was responsible to justice."

"Do you know if he was on a case at the time, Charlie?" Kris asked.

"My initial response is to say yes, Kris. Not many reasons for Frank to be in his car alone, in the middle of the night, parked miles from home, unless he was on a case," Charlie replied. "This morning I called in quite a few favors from people high up in the LAPD, and I expect to be able to pick up whatever personal belongings he had on himself and in his car sometime today. Frank didn't have any living immediate family or next of kin, so it didn’t take much convincing for my request to be processed. Also, I have been granted clearance to allow all of you access to his office, so I would like one of you to go over there and look through any papers, notes, files, anything that could help us in discovering what he might have been working on up to last night."

"What’s the address Charlie?" Kelly asked. "I'll drive over there right after the briefing,”

"Thank you Kelly. The police might or might not have known what to look for when they inspected Frank's office this morning, but I believe I do know. At least I hope I know. Please call me when you arrive there," Charlie said, and paused before continuing.

"Bosley, have you got the address for Kelly?"

Bosley pressed two buttons on his desk and the office lights brightened while the projector shut itself off. "I've got it written down and was waiting for a volunteer, Charlie." He took a piece of paper off his desk, leaned forward, and tapped Kris' shoulder with it.

"Can you give this to Kelly please?"

“Sure can.” Kris took the paper, stood up and went over to where Kelly was seated on the couch. She handed her the paper as she sat down next to her.

"Thanks Kris," Kelly said while she read the address.

"Do you know where it’s at?" Kris asked.

"I know the general area where it is; shouldn’t be too difficult to find the address. The trip over there is another story. Hopefully I can get there in less than an hour," Kelly replied.

"Be careful."

"Count on it."

Sabrina noticed the exchange between the two was very serious (and very different) compared to their playful back-and-forth earlier. And watching them both go from play to work instantly made her feel good to be working alongside the two, because the ability to get serious (possibly deadly serious in this case) when it counted ranked a person high on Sabrina's trust list. Kris and Kelly were very high on that list.

"Charlie, do you have anything specific for me to do this morning?" Sabrina asked.

"Yes I do Sabrina, but I’m rather hesitant to ask." Sabrina could actually discern the tension in Charlie’s 'speaker' voice. Its okay Charlie she thought, she'd understand.

"Charlie, it's for Frank. Ask me."

"Thank you Sabrina."

There was a long pause, almost to the point Sabrina thought the call got disconnected when Charlie finally spoke again. "We need all the information we can possibly obtain to identify Frank's killer (or killers Sabrina thought), and that includes official information." She thought she heard a deep intake of breath before he continued. "Could you talk to Bill and…" Charlie paused for a beat. "Could you persuade Bill to allow you access to what they have so far? A look at any reports, notes, briefs, discoveries, whatever, would be an immense help. We'll pick up Frank's personal items later today, so you won't have to talk to Bill about any of that."

Now it was Sabrina's turn to pause, and she looked down at the cup in her hands while she thought. Allowing civilians access to official police materials during an ongoing, active investigation just doesn't happen. Charlie knew that, and yet he was asking just that. No wonder he was hesitant! Her relationship with Bill was still a friendly one after their divorce, and his position in the police force would grant him permission to access whatever case file that had been started. But she wasn't sure of her chances to see that file. Only one way to find out! Even if Bill couldn't allow her to see the file, he would hopefully understand the reason she had asked. And maybe slip some information her way in general conversation.

Sabrina raised her head to look at the speaker as she replied. "It couldn't hurt to ask him, Charlie. I think he'll understand. The worst he could do is say no."

"Thank you again, Sabrina. It means a lot to me."

"You mean a lot to all of us, Charlie. We’ll help you out in any way we can."

"Sabrina’s right Charlie," Kelly added. "We all know how close you and Frank were, and we'll do what it takes."

"Same goes for me too, Charlie!" Kris added.

"Thank you, Angels." Charlie laughed slightly at Kris' response, and Sabrina knew it was from the Angels proving how much they cared about him, and that care allowed his voice to relax for the first time that morning.

Kris spoke again. "What's my job this morning, Charlie?"

"It may sound simple, but it is still very important. I want you and Bosley to stay in the office and be ready to pick up Frank's possessions the instant the police notify us they are available. Bring them back to the office so you all can go through whatever he had with him last night. Bosley will call me the moment you start. With all of us to look over what he had will make less of a chance to miss anything important. We used to keep very detailed notes while working on cases together, and hopefully Frank had kept that habit."

"Will do, Charlie." Turning to Bosley, Kris asked, "Looks like we'll need more coffee, eh Bos?"

"You read my mind Kris," Bosley replied.

Kris got up off the couch and headed toward the coffee machines behind the bar. Sabrina noticed Kris smiled at Kelly before getting up off the couch, and thought it was one of reassurance and a wish of good luck more than anything else. Kris gave Sabrina the same smile just before rounding the end of the bar. She smiled back. No need for words; they all knew they all were going to need some good luck on this one.

"Now, if you all will excuse me, I've got more phone calls I need to make. Thank you Angels, thank you Bosley. Goodbye and good luck," Charlie said, and Sabrina could now tell how tired he sounded. We'll get whoever did this Charlie; bank on it.

"Of course, Charlie. Goodbye." Bosley pressed the conference call button to end the connection.

She had a call to make herself, Sabrina thought. She felt it would be easier on the both of them if she gave Bill advanced notice she was going to pay him a visit. But she didn't believe telling him the reason why over the phone was a good idea; that was something she had to ask in person. Sabrina got up from the couch and headed towards the door, planning to call Bill from the Pinto.

"Call me either in the car or at Bill's office when you hear anything," she said to Bosley.

"Will do Sabrina," Bosley replied, and began to look up Bill's LAPD office number in the Rolodex that stood next to the phone on his desk.

Kelly got up, tucked the paper into her front pocket, and started towards the office doors. "You've got Frank's office number as well, right Bos?"

"I do indeed. Either there or the car, right?"

"Right," Kelly said as she exited the office. Just before following Kelly out of the office, Sabrina glanced over to see Kris preparing a fresh pot of coffee. You might want to make two pots Kris, she briefly thought. It looked like they all had a lot of work ahead of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This work has not been beta'd, so all mistakes are entirely self inflicted.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sabrina asks for help from a very specific LAPD detective

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of the few (very few!) continuity threads in Charlie's Angels was Sabrina's ex-husband Bill Duncan, who was a detective for the LAPD. He made an appearance in 3 episodes I believe, and was portrayed by Michael Bell. Their friendship is canon, but they are a bit more friendly in the show than they are here.
> 
> And Bill has a question for Sabrina it seems...

Sabrina checked her makeup in the Pinto's rear view mirror before she stepped out of the car, and immediately chastised herself. It's just Bill she thought, why did she still care about how she presented herself to him? They'd been divorced for over three years, so why did she occasionally act as if she still needed to impress him? Maybe it's because he's a lieutenant detective now, and she's just a private investigator?

"Just," she said aloud, knowing that was a big understatement.

If Bill knew about some of the cases she had worked, he wouldn't consider her 'just' a private investigator. However, client confidentiality bound her to keep that all to herself, and to Townsend Investigations. And that was perfectly fine with her, because she knew how well she can do her job, as did Kelly, Kris, Bosley, and (more importantly) Charlie!

Sabrina entered the precinct building, and easily made her way to the duty officer's desk. She had lost count of the amount of times she had been in the HQ of the 12th Precinct while married to Bill, and the walk to the duty desk was very familiar one.

"Is Lt. Detective Duncan currently in his office?" she asked the duty officer, who seemed to eye her with more than casual interest. She noticed the band on his left ring finger, and waited for his reply with a hint of disdain. How many other women had he mentally undressed while they stood in front of his desk? And how many noticed as easily as she did?

"Yes ma'am, he is. Anything I can help you with?"

"No thanks, you just did." 

She turned and began to walk towards the set of stairs that led to Bill's office when she heard the sergeant say, "It's on the second floor..." She cut him off in mid speech with a wave of a hand.

"I know where it is sergeant, thank you."

Bill was seated at his desk in the office he shared with two other detectives (thankfully both were not in at the moment), typing away on a report of some sort when she entered, and Sabrina's first thought was not much had changed since her last visit. Same hair; same style of brown jacket (to his credit the jacket did look new); same intense look while performing a mundane task. He also had the same desk accessories: an autographed baseball resting on top of a Dodgers labeled perch; a small stacked file organizer that was still in desperate need of some TLC; and the L.A. Rams coffee cup she had given him while they were still married. She smiled, knowing she still had the Oakland Raiders cup he had given her in return. Her cup was still used for coffee, but Bill used his for a different purpose now. It was currently stuffed so full of pencils and pens it looked ready to burst at any moment. She also noted a new citation added to the two others that were hung on the wall behind his desk. Good for him she thought. Sabrina knew he was an excellent cop, and it was good to see she wasn't the only one who noticed.

"Morning Bill, thanks for seeing me on such short notice."

"Sabrina, good morning," he said as he got up from typing and walked over to Sabrina to give her a quick hug. "Sorry for not greeting you properly, but I'm currently buried under a lot of paperwork. I thought cops were supposed to catch bad guys, not write novels!" he said with a slight chuckle and a shake of his head.

Sabrina smiled, remembering how much paperwork was part of the job as a police officer. Paperwork was part of the job at Townsend Investigations as well (Bosley sure knew that), but thankfully the majority of it didn’t need to be in duplicate (or triplicate!) as the force routinely required.

"Please," Bill said as he gestured to the chair in front of his desk, and they both sat down at the same time. He took the paper from his typewriter and inserted it into a folder in front of him, which Sabrina noted was underneath a second folder. "You called earlier this morning and wanted to talk about something?"

"Yeah." Sabrina took a deep breath. "The murder of Frank Santana."

"Ahhh yes, the private eye who was found dead in his car early this morning. He was partners with Charlie at one time way back when, right?"

Sabrina hated the term 'private eye', and briefly thought Bill was making fun of her job. But she quickly realized he probably used the term all the time, and didn't intend to insult her. At least he didn't say 'private dick'! Still...

"Right. Frank and Charlie ran an agency together for almost five years. We think Frank might have been working a case, came across something, or someone it appears, and was killed because of that." She paused, and took another deep breath. "I know this is a big ask, but is there any possibility I can have a look at what you guys have so far in terms of a case file?" She knew she was using their past as a way to access official information, but she had not made a habit of asking before that morning. This was only the second time she had approached Bill in the nearly three years she has worked for Charlie. He had allowed her access to that file the first time, and she hoped that would play to her favor in this instance. But that first time wasn't in relation to a homicide. This time it was.

"You know that's a tall order for a homicide case, Sabrina. Any case for that matter. I'm not sure..."

"I know Bill, I know. And you know, _hopefully_ you know, I don't ask you to do this on a regular basis. But Frank and Charlie's friendship go back a lot of years, and he really wants whoever was responsible to be caught."

"We all do Bri, nothing special about that," Bill replied fairly seriously. Sabrina's heart sank a little as he studied her for a moment. She could imagine the gears turning in deep thought behind his brown eyes. Since he hadn't immediately said no, and was taking his time to reply to her request, she hoped he could or would work on a way to help her somehow. However, his response shocked her.

"Why did you leave?"

"What? Why did I leave? Bill, what has that got to do with-"

"No, no, I'm sorry, that's not what I meant. We both know the answer to that. I meant why did you leave the force. You had a good career ahead of you if you had stayed."

Sabrina glanced at the floor to help her think. She remembered she actually didn't give Bill a definitive reason why she left. They were already divorced at the time; she really didn't feel the need she had to tell him why. Damn, why ask now? Had it been bothering him all this time?

She looked up towards him as she replied, "Bottom line Bill, I felt I could better help the force in other positions than what I was being assigned to. A crossing guard? Or a meter maid? Or a receptionist? Please! My test scores, weapon ability, and fitness results were top of my class. My skills were being wasted wherever I was assigned to, and I needed to do something about it before I couldn't."

"But you knew at that time all rookies are placed in entry level positions until they can prove themselves; that's how the force weeds the wheat from the chaff. A year or a year and a half at the most doing those mundane jobs, and you would’ve been bumped up to Corporal, easy. And you could've been wearing a gold shield in less than three."

"You're right Bill, I did know. But knowing didn’t make it any easier, or make the time go by any faster. When Bosley approached me and asked about working for Charlie, and laid out what I would be doing, with no 'probationary time', my decision was a very easy one to make. Also the pay was very generous, especially compared to a rookie cop's salary. I've never regretted my decision to leave the force, plus Kelly and Kris have been the best partners anyone could hope to work alongside with. Plain and simple."

Bill seemed to think about her answer for quite some time, and Sabrina began to get slightly uncomfortable in her chair. She had meant no disrespect to the force or to Bill for that matter. She simply felt she could do better. And Bill deserved the truth. But his silence was a bit worrying to Sabrina at that moment.

She was about to say something in an attempt to ease the tension between them when he relaxed a bit, and finally said, "Fair enough. Your leaving the force had bugged me since day one. We lost a good cop on the day you turned in your badge, and now I'm glad I wasn't the reason. Thanks for giving it to me straight up, Bri. Sorry if it made you uncomfortable, I know that was an out-of-left-field kind of question for you."

Sabrina laughed nervously, and rubbed the back of her neck in an attempt to calm herself. “Left field is right!” She paused. "Sorry if I gave the impression I quit the force because of you. That was never my intention."

"Good." Bill extended his right hand towards Sabrina. "Still friends?"

She grasped his hand with hers, and covered both with her other hand. "Of course," she replied and leaned over to give Bill a quick peck on the cheek. Sabrina was again thankful their divorce was amicable, and they still were on friendly terms. Bill was a good man; she was a good woman; they just were not good together. And they both realized they should part before things got… well, enough of that flashback. She was glad she still could meet with him on occasion to grab a bite to eat and trade theories, brainstorm ideas, or whatever and get a different perspective when it came to investigative work. All in general terms of course. Sometimes a case needed a different view, and Sabrina trusted Bill's view on a variety of matters. Plus, the sessions with him usually ended up being more productive than not. But today's visit wasn't one of those sessions, and she briefly thought of crossing her fingers for luck.

"Now, let's get back to why you're here: your favor."

"Bill, if you can't, I underst…"

Bill smiled as he held up both hands, cutting her off mid-sentence. "Hold on there. I had already heard about Frank before you called this morning. It didn't take much detective work to figure out the reason why you wanted to see me. Did you also know there was a B&E last night in the same area where Frank was?" Sabrina shook her head no. "Yep, just a couple of houses down from where he was found in his car. I wonder what the odds are of those two crimes happening on the same night, virtually right next to each other, being unrelated. Hmmmm. But having said that, I can't help you, _in an official manor_..."

Bill stood up, moved both folders that were in front of him to the outer corner of his desk, and opened the cover of the top folder. He stepped over to another desk, picked up that morning's newspaper and placed it on top of the folders, half covering them. A wry smile greeted Sabrina when he turned to look at her.

"Bri, can you please excuse me for awhile? I gotta hit up the men's room. All the coffee I've had this morning just let me know it wants to go somewhere else. Sorry!" Bill gave Sabrina a quick hug and kiss on the cheek, and began walking towards the door.

"Oh, while I'm gone, feel free to read the paper. It's always good to catch up on current events." Bill turned his head and gave her a wink before he exited the room.

'Thank you Bill! Thank you Bill! Dinner is on me, name the place!' Sabrina exclaimed to herself as she quickly moved the newspaper aside and began to read her preferred version of current events.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In S4E1 (Love Boat Angels), Kate Jackson's departure from the series is briefly explained away during the morning briefing. Sabrina had left the agency, gotten married, and started a family prior to the events of that episode. I've always wondered if Sabrina got back together with Bill...  
>  
> 
> This work has not been beta'd, so all mistakes are entirely self inflicted.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kelly arrives at the Santana Investigation Agency

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kelly is feeling a bit introspective while checking out Frank's office...

It took Kelly slightly more than forty minutes to arrive at 4689 South Broadway, the location in the southern portion of L.A. where Frank Santana's office was, and the parking lot on the east side of the building looked like a good place to park the Mustang. She didn't receive any calls during the trip; she surmised the police hadn't cleared Frank's personal effects yet. Damn, she wished they would hurry! Kelly got out of the car and headed towards the entrance of the building wondering what she would find in Frank's office.

The Santana Investigative Agency was located on the top floor of a two story building that looked fairly new compared to the other surrounding buildings. Not necessarily new she corrected herself, maybe a recent renovation. Kelly noted the list of occupants on the sign mounted to the right of the main entrance: a chiropractor and a dentist on the first floor, and a CPA shared the second floor with Frank's agency. She wondered how much the police had told the other three occupants about what had happened to their neighbor. They probably didn't need to tell them much of anything; their questions would've been enough of an explanation.

The first item to catch Kelly's eye before she reached the top of the stairs was a flash of yellow from the police barrier tape criss-crossed over the doorway to Frank's office. The second item was the fairly young looking police officer standing next to the taped over doorway, who turned his head towards Kelly as she crested the stairs. He appeared to be nervous as he acknowledged her presence with a slight nod of his head. Did she make him nervous, or was this his first time in the field? She walked over to him and introduced herself.

"Hi. Kelly Garrett, I'm from Townsend Investigations. I should be cleared to enter Frank Santana’s office," she said as she showed the young officer her private investigator's license. He was either a rookie or barely past the one year mark. Been there, done that, and thankfully moved on she thought while he studied her license.

"Miss Garret, yes. I was briefed to expect you this morning. You are cleared."

"Thank you."

He carefully detached two pieces of tape from one side of the doorway, opened the door, and allowed Kelly to enter the office. She thanked him a second time before he closed the door behind her.

As she entered Frank's office, she thought for a moment about the young officer that let her in. If Frank's death had happened a few years ago, that could've been her standing outside the office. And that assignment would've been the closest she'd get to be involved in any type of important case during her first year out of the academy. She felt (no, she knew!) she could do so much more for the force than they had given her credit for. That thought made her decision to accept Sabrina's offer to join her at Townsend Investigations the best decision she had ever made. Now she was able to actively work important cases, and make a real difference. And this case was very important.

Kelly's first impression while she looked over the room was how neat and orderly Frank Santana had kept his office. The walls were wood paneled in a dark shade of brown (close to the color of her blouse) that seemed to have a slight calming effect on her. Maybe that explained why she preferred brown and earth colored clothing in her wardrobe; wearing those colors always seemed to put her at ease. A subject for a future therapy session she supposed, and then immediately hoped a session she never had to have. One thing she did know for sure about wardrobe colors, she looked damn good when wearing any shade of brown. Kris thought so too!

The centerpiece of the office was a rather large oak desk positioned close to the wall opposite the entryway, with just enough room for Frank to move around in the high-backed leather chair stationed behind the desk. A good sized photograph of what looked to Kelly like a nighttime scene of L.A. hung on the wall in back of the desk. A row of four file cabinets, with three drawers each, stood against the wall to the right of the desk, and a door (bathroom door?) split the row between the two middle cabinets. In the corner to the left of the first file cabinet was what looked to be a microfiche reader. It was similar to the type of readers the academy had used, but not exactly the same; maybe it was a newer model. Files and microfiche? Impressive, Kelly thought, for a one person agency.

Next to the wall on the left side of the desk was a small table with a fax machine resting on top. The shelf on the lower portion of the table held a stack of blank paper, ready to be put into use with ease. Another cityscape picture was centered on the wall above the fax, but Kelly didn't immediately recognize the city. Further to the right of the mystery cityscape hung a clock and a calendar; she noted with a tinge of sadness the last day with any type of an annotation was two days ago (lunch 1:00 Zito's). Immediately to Kelly's right was a good sized table that held up a coffee maker, with coffee, sugar, crème, a cup full of wooden stirring sticks, and a stack of cups neatly arranged on the right side of the table. Kelly looked back towards the desk, located the phone sitting on the left side, and walked over to sit down in the chair centered in front. It just didn't seem right to use Frank's chair.

The phone had a conference call and speaker setup identical to what they used back at the office, which made calling the office using the speakerphone easy-peasy.

"Townsend Investigations," announced Bosley over the speaker after one ring.

"Hi Bosley, its Kelly. I'm here at Frank's office. Any word from the police yet?"

"Nothing yet Kell'," came the reply from Kris. "We're both getting anxious around here waiting. How are you doing?"

Kelly smiled as the image came to her of Kris pacing back and forth while she waited for the call and annoying Bosley at the same time. "I just got here, and called you before I checked things out. One thing's for sure, Frank kept a very organized office. I haven't gone through his files yet. I'm hoping they're that way too."

"From what Charlie had mentioned to me off and on over the years, Frank was very particular in just about everything he did," Bosley said. "That should play to our favor. I'll let you go so you can call Charlie and the two of you can get to work. Good luck."

"Thanks Bos, bye."

"Bye Kell'!" Kris got in before Bosley ended the call, and that made her smile. She then frowned slightly because she didn't say goodbye to her personally before Bosley hung up. She hoped Kris wouldn't be upset by that omission, and quickly concluded the blonde Angel would understand. Kelly's smile returned the more she thought about Kris.

She very much enjoyed Kris' flirty looks to her earlier that morning, and Kelly again had to admit to herself that Kris had become very special to her. Special? Way beyond special if she was to be brutally honest with herself. One's heart rate does not skip a beat if a person occasionally places their hand on your shoulder when standing close to you if they were just 'special'. Nor do you admire how a person fits into a pair of Dittos (and are busted when admiring that fit with a returned wink) if they were just 'special'. And if Kelly knew she had it bad (or good!), Kris had it worse (or better!).

Over the length of time they had known and worked with each other their friendship (relationship?) had grown stronger and deeper to where Kelly genuinely believed Kris had fallen in love with her. She actually thought Kris was going to tell her exactly that when they said goodnight to each other four days ago after their last 'girls' night in'. Kris' parting smile and lingering look said as much, and Kelly remembered returning Kris' look with one of her own that surprised herself in its length and intensity. It was getting easier and easier to lose herself in Kris' beautiful blue eyes.

Kelly remembered her original analogy of unlocking a specific door, and now she realized she was seriously considering opening that door (if it wasn't already open and she was stepping across its threshold). Could she fall in love with a woman? She still couldn't answer that question, but she honestly believed she could fall in love with a person like Kris, who was a woman. A very beautiful woman in fact. And smart, and funny, and sexy, and… she shook her head to get back to the task at hand. Kelly set the phone for another conference call and dialed Charlie's number. She got up from the chair, walked over to the file cabinets and waited for Charlie to answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GWI: I had Harold Jardine's office, seen in S1E20 (I Will Be Remembered), in mind when writing about Frank's office, but I only borrowed the dark wood paneling and large desk from Mr. Jardine's office. I don't think Frank would've had shag carpeting (though it was the 70s!).
> 
> This work has not been beta'd, so all mistakes are entirely self inflicted.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark Suiter reads some troubling news

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 8 introduces the second original character of this story, Mark Suiter, whose Monday morning just got a little bluer...

As Mark Suiter sat at his desk reading the small news article buried on page ten of that morning's _L.A.Times_ , he began to get mad. No, he began to get pissed off. Actually, he was Godzilla stomping the shit out of Tokyo furious! "Man found shot to death in ritzy neighborhood" the small headline screamed at him. What in the hell was Steele thinking last night? Was he even thinking at all? According to that goddamn headline he wasn't! How could've he gone along with Steele's plan for so long? A plan that (obviously) now involved murder! Unfortunately, Suiter knew exactly what the answer was to all of those questions: he was being blackmailed by Alec Steele. He slammed the paper down on his desk, hard enough to cause the half-filled coffee cup next to him threaten to spill its contents. Suiter watched the coffee's wave slowly calm down, and he tried to do the same with himself. After about a minute, when both he and the coffee had settled down, he picked up the cup and drained its contents in two gulps. He rolled the empty cup between his hands as he thought about how quickly things had spiraled out of control over the past twelve months.

About a month after hiring Alec Steele as an assistant to one of the junior lawyers of Suiter's firm, he had approached Suiter with a scheme that was so outlandish the lawyer just about fired the clerk on the spot. Actually he would have, until Steele informed him he had discovered Suiter's creative income tax accounting procedures. Over the last two years Suiter had hidden slightly more than two million dollars in various shadow accounts spread throughout the banking world. Each account by itself didn't contain that much money, and wouldn't attract the attention of the Feds if investigated separately. The deposits he had made into each account were (relatively) small enough they hadn't raised any red flags from banking officials or the I.R.S., and the ownership information for each account was many layers deep. He thought he had covered his tracks extremely well, until that prick Steele told him why he would help the younger man in the occasional bout of theft from the firm's wealthiest clients. As of that morning he still didn't exactly know how Steele found out about the extra money. He immediately fired all his accountants after Steele's revelation though, and hired new ones with very strict conditions: they speak to no one but him! Steele also had the gall to demand ( _request_ as he put it) to be paid a stupidly-high monthly salary, beginning the following month! Suiter knew Steele had him by the short hairs, and Steele knew it as well. He very reluctantly went along with the plan; what else could he do? He had worked too hard to have his future plans blown up by some young punk with a penchant for robbery (and information procurement, apparently).

So for the last year Suiter had supplied him information about the residences and possessions on some of their more well-off clients, and Steele (along with the addition of Miss Paula Price) had selectively robbed and sold the stolen items. To his credit, Steele's activities had flown under the radar, and things appeared to be sailing smoothly (smoothly being a _very_ relative term). Now that smooth sailing had hit the proverbial iceberg, thanks to Steele's itchy trigger finger. And a private eye to boot!

Suiter wouldn't have given the news blurb a second thought until he read the location where the shooting had taken place; it was only a few houses away from Steele's latest target. Way too close to each other to be a coincidence, especially in southern Bel-Air, where crimes like that just don't happen. And what was the Price woman's involvement in all of this? Suiter knew Steele had taught her how to break into the homes they cased out, but did he also teach her to kill? He was fairly certain she wasn't the one who pulled the trigger last night, but would she if Steele told her to? Suiter set his cup down on the desk, reached over to the intercom box to his left and punched the button that paged his secretary.

"Miss Watson, as soon as Alec Steele arrives, please tell him to see me in my office as soon as possible," Suiter announced into the small box. "It’s extremely important."

"Yes, Mr. Suiter. Anything the matter?"

A shit-load of things are 'the matter' at the moment his mind screamed, but he couldn't let on to his secretary today wasn't like any other typical morning. "No Mary, nothing's wrong. I guess a touch of the Monday morning blues is lingering longer than I would like. Thanks for asking though."

"You're welcome. I'll let Mr. Steele know the moment I see him."

"Thank you."

Get it together Mark! He took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and reclined back in his chair. As he looked around his office, he thought about all the various case law books neatly aligned in their rows on the many bookshelves occupying his office. All those books and none of them were of any help to him now. How was it possible he had gone from simple tax evasion to being an accessory to murder in a year? He felt as if the world he had worked so hard for had begun to close in on him at a very fast rate. The multiple diplomas that hung on the wall behind him seemed to be mocking him as well. 'Why work so hard to get us', they silently asked, 'if you were going to throw what we stand for out the window? Why Mark, why?' Why indeed. He needed answers, and those could only come from one man: Alec Steele.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GWI: A sort-of inspiration for Mark Suiter's office came from S5E1 (Angel in Hiding) and the office of modeling company magnate Dale Woodman, who was portrayed by the awesome Sir Christopher Lee.
> 
> This work has not been beta'd, so all mistakes are entirely self inflicted.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kris gets the call, and Sabrina receives a call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As Kris might say, it's "about damn time" she got in on the action! Well, maybe not action per se (yet), but at least she has something to do, and that something will play an important part of their investigation. Meanwhile, Sabrina really wishes she drove anything else besides a Pinto (among other thoughts)...

Bosley picked up the phone's handset just as the first ring had finished. "Townsend Investigations," he announced into the receiver.

Kris had been wiping down one of the two coffee machines behind the bar when the phone rang, and she immediately threw down the cleaning cloth and almost sprinted to Bosley's desk. Her first thought was 'please let it be the police', which was immediately followed by a maniacal internal laugh at wishing the police were calling. Who in their right mind would want to get a phone call from the cops? Not her! Other than right now of course.

"Yes." Pause. "My name is John Bosley and I am authorized to speak on Charles Townsend’s behalf." Pause. "Yes. Yes, very good. We will have one of our agents at your station within thirty minutes." Pause. "Kris Munroe." Bosley began to write something down on a scratch pad in front of him. "Yes. Thank you Sergeant. Goodbye." Bosley finished writing then tore off the page and handed it to Kris. "This is the case number assigned to Frank's investigation. His items are at the 23rd Precinct at that address. Check in at the duty officer's desk and ask to meet a Sergeant Murphy; he'll be expecting you."

"Thanks Bos! I'll call you when I'm on my way back," Kris said very loudly and very quickly, and gave him a kiss on the forehead as she took the paper from his hand. She practically ran out of the office. Finally she had something to do in this case! About damn time!

==========================================================================================

While she drove away from the police station, Sabrina mulled over the information from both files Bill had 'allowed' her to look through, including the maybe-not-so-coincidental robbery reported a few houses away from where Frank's body was found in his car. Bill was right, two crimes in such close proximity to each other don't happen every day in upper class neighborhoods. Especially within hours of each other!

When the car's mobile phone rang, she quickly scanned for a place to pull over to take the call, and found a market parking lot a few yards ahead on her right. Pulling in to the first available space, she jammed the Pinto's gear selector into park and picked up the phone.

"Sabrina," she announced into the receiver.

"Bri, its Bosley. Kris just left to pick up Frank's personal effects from the police. How did it go with Bill? Still friends I hope."

Sabrina laughed once before she replied. "We're still friends. I owe him big time Bosley; he's a good man." Sabrina knew Bosley was half-serious about what could've been a very heavy situation between her and Bill, but since her visit had gone much better than she had originally hoped, she appreciated the half-humor side of his statement. "I'll clue you all in on what I found out when I get there, which should be in about twenty minutes or so. Any word from Kelly yet?"

"She called about forty-five minutes after she left here to let us know she had arrived at Frank's office, but nothing after that. I guess she and Charlie are still going over whatever files or information he kept there," Bosley replied.

"Hopefully they can find something useful. Before I go, can you have Charlie hit up the computer for any information on a Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Parker? Their house is on the same Bel-Air street where Frank was found. The house number is 159…" Dammit! She knew the number; she read it in the file! Sabrina glanced down at the seatbelt that was tightly secured across her hips, focusing on the Ford logo printed onto the buckle's release button. She closed her eyes and pictured the burglary report she had read earlier, knowing which block of information contained the address. The numbers gradually appeared and swam into focus. One. Five. Nine. Yes!

"Nine! The number is 1599! Have a couple of notepads ready for me, 'cause I have a lot of writing to do when I get there. Thanks Bos! See you soon. Bye!"

"Got it, Sabrina. Goodbye."

Sabrina hung up the phone, backed out of the parking spot, and made her way out of the lot. She resisted the urge to race back to the office like some sort of Mario Andretti. She'd be no help to anyone in the hospital or dead on the side of the road, but that didn't stop her from speeding when she thought she safely could (thank you police training). She also wished for the second time that day she had a different car than the Pinto, because its weak four-cylinder engine and sloppy suspension made for a very crappy car to use if a person needed to get somewhere in a hurry. And she was most definitely in a hurry. We _will_ have a talk about company cars after this case is wrapped Charlie, count on it!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never understood why the 'powers to be' (ABC, Spelling, Goff and Roberts, Ford [the show had a promotional contract with Ford] or whomever/whatever) had the (not very) brilliant idea to have Sabrina drive a Pinto! She was clearly the lead investigator on the Angels' team, so why saddle her (pun intended!) with such a POS of a company car? I can totally understand the subtext involved with Jill driving a Mustang Cobra in S1 (and have it be driven by Kris from S2 onward), and Kelly drive a Mustang Ghia throughout all five seasons. But Sabrina in a Pinto? Nope! I sincerely hope it wasn't because Kate Jackson wanted it that way.
> 
> This work has not been beta'd, so all mistakes are entirely self inflicted.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kelly and Charlie investigate Frank's office

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kelly makes an interesting discovery about Frank's files...

"Townsend Associates," Charlie's voice announced over the speaker in Frank Santana's office.

"Hi Charlie, its Kelly. I'm in Frank's office, standing next to his file cabinets. I will say this; he kept a very orderly office. That old saying 'a place for everything, and everything in its place' would've been a perfect mantra for him. I wouldn't have minded one bit to work for Frank. Oh, no offense Charlie."

"None taken Kelly. One of many reasons I enjoyed working with Frank was how meticulous he was in all aspects of the job. No detail was too small. And I believe that mind set was one of the many reasons why our partnership was successful, and that success continued for him when we went our separate ways. To this day I still perform many processes similar to how Frank and I did when we were partners". Charlie paused for a beat, and then continued. "He was a good man."

Charlie paused again, and Kelly knew the reason why. Even though Charlie and Frank hadn't worked together in years, they were still very good friends. And knowing what her boss was going through at that moment made her even more determined to catch Frank's killer (killers?). He cleared his throat before continuing.

"Sorry Kelly, it's…" Charlie's voice cracked slightly before it tapered off.

No need to apologize Charlie! Kelly debated whether or not to say something to Charlie in an attempt to reassure him; tell him it's going to be okay, but decided her silence might be the best choice. She knew Charlie was a strong, proud man, and she also knew any attempt at consolation from her probably wouldn't be received in the manner in which she intended. Giving him time to compose himself and continue on his own terms would be her best response. But that didn't make her heart hurt any less.

"My apologies again Kelly, it's been a long, tough morning." Kelly heard a second attempt (muffled this time) from Charlie to clear his throat. "Now, to return to the task at hand. If Frank used the same or a similar type of filing system as we used during our partnership, the cabinets will be annotated either alphabetically or by date."

Kelly scanned the labels that were tucked into their respective holders on the outside of each cabinet's drawer. Printed on each label was a year and a month range. She noted the labels on the first two drawers on the far left cabinet only had multiple years printed, with no months listed (explains the microfiche reader; smart!).

"It looks like he's using dates, Charlie. Starting from the first cabinet on my left and moving right, they are listed by years from past to present, with each year sub-divided by the month."

"Excellent! We'll start by looking over his most recent cases, then work backwards in time."

"Got it!"

She checked each cabinet's labels, and discovered the far right cabinet hadn't yet been put into use. The last drawer with a printed label was the middle drawer of the cabinet (she considered it the third cabinet) that stood to the right of the doorway she initially thought was the bathroom. Before checking out the third cabinet, curiosity got the better of her and she opened the door to see if her guess was a correct one (it was!). A quick scan of the small room re-emphasized Frank's penchant for neatness and organization, and she closed the door with a slight smile.

A step to her right brought her in front of the third cabinet, and to the sudden realization she was a little nervous. What would she find in there? Don't be silly, she told herself. No reason to be nervous; it's just a cabinet full of files, right? Right! Still, her hand shook slightly as she grasped the handle of the drawer and pulled. The drawer revealed its contents to be only four file folders and one standard-sized notebook (see, nothing to get nervous about!). If he had been working on any of these cases last night, having only four files should make it a fairly quick task to look everything over and (hopefully) discover any clues as to what Frank had been doing when he was murdered.

"Charlie, it looks like there are only four files from his most recent cases. There's also a notebook in the back of the drawer. There doesn't appear to be any type label on the notebook though." Kelly grabbed the notebook, stacked the four folders on top of it, closed the drawer with her elbow, and walked over to sit down in the same chair she used when she called Kris and Bosley.

"Good to hear. When we were partners, we used notebooks as ongoing logs of our active cases, and transcribed the logs to a more permanent form for filing when each case was finished. It appears Frank had kept that system intact, which should help us immensely." Kelly heard a buzzing sound emanate from the speaker that interrupted Charlie's voice. "Excuse me Kelly, it seems Bosley or Kris is calling me on another line."

"Of course Charlie; hopefully its good news," Kelly replied.

"Fingers crossed Angel." The buzzing stopped and the speaker fell silent.

Kelly placed the case files on the desk, opened the notebook, and was greeted by the strangest shorthand writing she had ever seen. Except it wasn't really shorthand in a true sense. The spacing of the characters was similar to a style of shorthand, but the characters themselves were very different. So different in fact Kelly didn't recognize any of them. Her heart sank. How were they supposed to figure out what Frank had written? And why did he feel it was necessary to use a type of code in the first place? She quickly picked up the first case file within reach and opened it, hoping it was written in plain English (it was thank goodness!). A second file revealed itself to be in English as well, so it was just the notebook they had to figure out. And that was probably the most important case record they had! Kelly placed the two file folders back on the desk, and looked at the notebook's first page again.

Charlie's voice from the speaker caused her to jump slightly in the chair. "That was Bosley who called. Kris is on the way to the 23rd Precinct where Frank’s items are being held for us. If you leave there right away, you should just make it back to the office shortly after she does. I'm going to take a gamble and hope whatever useful information he has there will be somewhere in his most recent case files. If we discover there is nothing pertinent in those files and notebook, and Kris' expedition returns with nothing, we'll come back to Frank's office and look deeper into the remainder of his files."

"I like the gamble Charlie, but I see two things wrong with it. The first is the officer standing outside of Frank's office. I'm pretty sure he won't let me walk out of here with potential evidence in my hands. The second is the notebook. I think it's written in some form of code."

"A form of code you say? Hmmmm." The speaker went silent for a moment, and then Kelly heard Charlie do something that was so unexpected, she briefly thought he had gone mad: he laughed! "Ol' Frank, some things never change! And I am very grateful they don't!" Another little laugh came from the speaker. "Is there still a fax machine in Frank's office?"

"Yes, a fairly recent model by the looks of it. What's your plan, Charlie?"

"Superb! I'll clue you in when you get back to the office because what I believe I have to do might take me a while. But before you leave I need you to fax a page from the notebook to me. My fax number is 555-7447. Can you fax the first page to me, preferably without removing it from the notebook?"

Kelly sprang up from the chair and reached the fax machine in two quick steps. She looked at the feed tray for a moment and noticed a cutout in front, towards the bottom of the tray. Lifting up at the cutout opened the top part of the machine and revealed a glass plate similar to what would be in a Xerox machine. Kelly opened the notebook and placed one side on top of the glass; it barely fit! As she punched in Charlie's fax number on the machine's dial pad, she answered his question. "Looks like I can Charlie. I'm calling the number now." She closed the tray to hold the notebook in place. "What about the officer outside the door? I don't think I can charm my way past him with evidence in my hands." Kelly heard two rings from the fax's speaker, followed by a series of beeps and tones.

Charlie laughed again, and she could tell this particular laugh was from the heart. "Angel, you could charm a peanut farm from a president if you wanted to." That made Kelly smile, and laugh a little as well. "However, if he detains or questions you in any way, have him contact Lt. Commander Keen at the 23rd Precinct. He was who I talked to earlier this morning to get you all permission to enter Frank's office. Keen informed me they are finished going through the office; the guard outside is standard protocol during the first twenty-four hours after the committal of a major crime. The word should already be out through official police channels about us having carte blanche access to Frank's office, but if not I believe the officer will realize the error of his ways when you mention Keen's name."

Charlie paused, and in a slightly softer voice added, "You know Kelly, under different circumstances, and a few years in the past, that could've been you in uniform guarding that door if you hadn't made the decision to work for me. I am very thankful it is not. I would much rather have you work this case as you are currently doing, and not simply guarding a door."

"I'm thankful too, Charlie!" Kelly had to restrain herself from giving the speaker a loving touch, but ended up doing it anyway. _Thank you, Charlie_. If she only knew what he looked like!

The fax machine beeped loudly twice then placed itself into 'sleep' mode. "The fax is all done, and I'm heading out the door right now. Talk to you when I get back to the office. Bye Charlie!"

"Goodbye Angel, drive safe."

Kelly removed the notebook from the now silent fax machine, picked up the four folders from Frank's desk, pressed a button on the phone to end the call, and headed towards the door. The yellow tape was still present when she opened it, and the young officer quickly appeared to remove the same two strips he had unfastened earlier. He eyed the files and notebook in her hands as she passed through the doorway, but said nothing to her. He still seemed to be nervous. She thanked him for helping her, then quickly made her way to the stairs and began her descent as quickly as she could. No way was she going to give him any time to overcome his nervousness and try to stop her. Thank you Lt Commander Keen she thought as she exited the building, whoever you are!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GWI: Charlie's fax number is the phone number to the Paradise Massage parlor, seen in S1E20 (Blue Angels), where the Angels set up as a front to investigate corrupt Vice officers. Interestingly enough, actual massages were given (by Jill!).
> 
> This work has not been beta'd, so all mistakes are entirely self inflicted.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alec Steele has a meeting with his boss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The third original character of this story is introduced in this chapter, and with the events of the previous night illuminated under a different light, Alec Steele's certainty isn't quite so certain...

Alec Steele was fairly certain of many things as he walked into Mark Suiter's office. He was fairly certain he knew the reason behind this so-called 'urgent meeting'. He was fairly certain he was one more big job away from ditching L.A. and finding a new town to make money in. He was fairly certain he could bed Suiter's foxy secretary Mary Watson in less than a week if he really tried. He was fairly certain an idiotic sounding fast-food combo called a 'Happy Meal' was a flash-in-the-pan fad, and wouldn’t amount to anything (he wished the stupid TV ads for it would go away). And he was fairly certain he could handle anything the lawyer had to say to him that morning.

"Hey Suiter, you look a little uptight this morning. Got a problem you want me to take care of? Is that the reason behind this little 'urgent meeting'?" Steele made air quotes as he said urgent meeting, and sat down quite noisily in the chair in front of Suiter's desk. He debated on whether or not to put his feet up on the desk, but decided against it. Maybe next time he'd plop them up there, just to shake up the ol' boss.

Even though Steele held his boss in low regard, his boss' office never failed to impress him every time he had the misfortune of being in it. Impressed him as to how could anyone waste so much money on furniture! And so called art! Sure Suiter's desk was huge and decent looking, but did it really help him do his job any better? Nope! Any desk could do the same thing as the huge chunk of wood that sat in front of him (that almost resembled a judge's desk actually). There's four or five thousand dollars down the drain right there! And the paintings and statues that were littered around the room? More examples of wasted money. The only items of any real importance were the case law books that were aligned neatly on their respective shelves, and Steele believed those were the least expensive of all. He supposed all of the money spent was Suiter's attempt to impress his clients (or potential clients), and that sort of made sense to Steele. After all, if Suiter couldn't get clients, he couldn't get paid!

"It's Mark or Mr. Suiter during the time you are in any of the offices here, and that includes private meetings in my office. I'm still your boss, and you will show me common courtesy. And you know damn well why I want to talk to you!" Suiter lowered his voice as he continued, and slid that morning’s newspaper across the desk towards Steele. It was neatly folded, and currently displayed the contents of page ten.

"Have you gone mad? What happened last night that made you shoot someone?"

"Well, Mark," Steele replied as sarcastically as he dared, and tilted his head slightly to scan the news. He knew he could push Suiter’s buttons almost any time he chose, but now the rules to the game had changed. After all that went down last night he was a murderer (and Suiter’s paper trick let on he knew that as well), and that crime now trumped Suiter's crime of hiding money from the IRS. Burglary and theft compared to tax evasion was a push (in a twisted sort of way), but now things were different. Now Steele felt a little more vulnerable than he had been a day earlier, but no way was he going to let Suiter catch on to that. No way. Steele raised his head and looked his boss squarely in the eyes.

"I'll answer your questions as simply as possible: no, and because I had to."

"Wh-what?"

Steele leaned forward in the chair towards Suiter, rested his forearms on the desktop, and clarified his answer. "'Have I gone mad?' No. 'What happened last night to make me shoot someone?' Because I had to, Mark." As he leaned back in the chair he raised both arms above and behind his head, interlocking his fingers before resting the back of his head in his palms. Steel gave the lawyer his best smart-ass smile while he crossed his legs and waited for a reply. Vulnerable or not, he was still going to play with Suiter.

Suiter looked up at the ceiling and Steele thought he was fighting the urge to jump over the desk and punch him in the nose. Okay, time to back it down a little. No use getting into a fight with the boss (mentally using air quotes with the word boss). He felt he could take Suiter if they eventually did fight, and the sudden realization hit him they just might do that before everything was said and done and Steele was on his way out of town.

"Glad you cleared that up. Thanks." Suiter looked directly at Steele and slightly narrowed his eyes as he asked his next question. "Why did you feel the need to shoot someone last night?"

Steele returned his boss' look with one of his own. "The guy had been tailing Paula and me for about a week, and we work better alone. But you already knew that, right?"

"Knew what?"

"Knew about the tail. He was one of your stooges, wasn't he?" Wasn’t he? If he wasn't… oh shit! Steele began to get nervous for the first time that morning, and his certainty started to fade. Looks like it's time to come up with some backup plans Alec, and fast.

"He most certainly was not. What made you think I hired him to follow you? The less I know about you and your girlfriend's night work the better."

"She's not my girlfriend!" Steele snapped back in reply, then immediately calmed himself as he continued. "She just helps me out when I ask her to." He wasn't about to go into detail with Suiter on his relationship with the Price woman, because it wasn't any of his damn business, boss or not.

"Sorry for the assumption." Suiter leaned back in his chair and drummed his fingers on the edge of the desk top. "Damn."

Damn was right, Steele mentally agreed reluctantly. If Suiter didn't hire the tail that meant there was a good chance someone else knew what he and Paula had been doing, and hired the tail (or was the tail). And that was not good. Not good at all. "We need to find out who he was, and who hired him," Steele finally said after a few moments pause.

“Not we, you. You say he was following you? Then you figure out what he was doing. No one has been following me. It's your problem, not mine. I've got enough problems here that don't involve murder, so you handle it."

Steele wanted to handle the task of shoving his foot up Suiter's ass for leaving him on his own! But Suiter was right again (dammit!). He did need to know who hired the tail, and why. And fast! Best start right now he thought, and rose from the chair. "I'll figure it out, don’t worry. We're cool." Steele began to walk out of the office, now not so fairly certain of many things. He stopped and turned to look at Suiter while his boss spoke in a very firm voice.

"I do worry, and we are definitely not cool. Not until our little partnership comes to an end. Even after that, I'm not sure you’ll ever be cool." Suiter was sitting straight up in his chair as he spoke, with his hands neatly folded as they rested on the top of his desk.

Suiter's piss-poor attempt at being tough caused Steele to burst out in a fit of laughter, and he was still laughing as he exited his boss' office. He threw a wink towards Suiter's secretary as he walked past her on his way out of Suiter's front office.

"The boss is quite the comedian this morning," he informed her, and she returned his statement with a very fake smile (one week and that smile would be a look of lust). While Steele made his way down the stairs towards the building's exit, he knew he was still fairly certain about one thing: Mark Suiter was anything but a tough guy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't think I like Alec very much ;-)
> 
> This work has not been beta'd, so all mistakes are entirely self inflicted.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kris arrives at the 23rd Precinct

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A surprise and another task await Kris at the 23rd...

Kris felt (knew!) the dense lunch-time traffic conspired against her during the entire trip to the 23rd Precinct, and fleetingly wished she was driving a tank instead of the Mustang Cobra. The tank's speed wouldn’t be nearly as fast as the Cobra’s, but she wouldn't have to stop when traffic forced her to. Just keep on going! That plan would've been solid, only if all the cars she'd run over weren’t occupied. Since that wasn't the case, she dealt with the all the delays the best she could. And her best didn't seem to be very good at the moment.

She finally pulled into the Precinct's parking lot thirty-five minutes after leaving Townsend Investigations, and parked in the first available space that wasn't reserved. Kris had been to the 23rd twice while she was in the SFPD academy (field trips!), and twice while working for Charlie, so she knew exactly where the duty officer's desk was located: end of the first hallway on the left, past the main reception area.

As she opened the door and stepped into the station, panic set in. What was the name of the Sergeant she had to see? Murdock? Murray? Damn! She was trained to remember names (and faces) while in the academy, and sharpened that skill on an almost daily basis working for Charlie. Why the sudden brain-fade on the Sergeant's name? And why didn't she write his name down on the paper Bosley gave her? Kris stopped just before the main hallway forked left and tried to calm her nerves as she gathered her thoughts. She knew the name; it would come to her. Not Murray, but close. Mur….Murphy! Kris deeply breathed in and slowly exhaled. Calm down Munroe! Relax and get a grip, Charlie needs you to be sharp on this one! She took another deep breath, closed her eyes for a second, and then opened them with renewed determination. Right, Sergeant Murphy. Let's go see what he can do.

Kris opened her purse and fished out her PI identification, turned left, and headed towards the desk of the duty officer. She quickly debated on whether or not to declare she had a weapon in her purse, and decided she would keep quiet about that fact.

A sign on the desk identified the man sitting behind it as Corporal Johnson, who to Kris looked to be fairly young to have two stripes on his sleeves. Kris thought he couldn't have been out of the academy for much more than a year and a half at the most. She thought back to her time in uniform, and wondered how long it might have taken her to reach the rank of Corporal. Two years maybe, not longer than three for sure, but none of that mattered now. And she had zero regrets about leaving the force to work for Charlie. When she reached the desk, Kris opened her wallet to show the officer her identification as she spoke.

"Kris Munroe, I'm from Townsend Investigations. I would like to talk to Sergeant Murphy as soon as possible please. He should be expecting me."

Johnson eyed her identification, and then looked at Kris. His eyes were almost the same color of green as Kelly's, but nowhere near as beautiful (her heart fluttered slightly at the thought of Kelly’s eyes). The expression on his face almost looked to be one of surprise, which made her very curious. And that curiosity got the best of her for a moment.

"Something wrong Corporal Johnson?"

"Uh, no ma'am, nothing's wrong." The surprise in his look faded, but he did not lower his eyes. "Can I help you?"

"You were briefed to expect me, were you not?" Kris now suspected the ugly head of chauvinism had just reared itself in front of her, and she found herself becoming increasingly agitated.

"Yes ma'am I was. I was briefed to expect someone from the Townsend Agency, but I didn’t expect that someone to be… "

"…A woman?" She finished his sentence with more contempt in her voice than she had intended.

"A _beautiful_ woman," Johnson corrected, and Kris noted his cheeks redden a little.

Damn! Why was she so quick to judge him? He wasn't surprised to see a woman PI; he was surprised to see an _attractive_ woman PI! Why did she automatically think every man she met couldn't believe a woman could do any job she wanted? Because she had encountered chauvinism on such a regular basis it had almost become a normal occurrence. And her 'normalcy' just put Johnson on the defensive when all he was trying to do was help her. And admire her current outfit, judging by his look. She did give him credit though; he kept eye contact with her for _almost_ the entire time he spoke with her. Well, she did wear that outfit to be looked at (by Kelly, who did seem to appreciate how it fit on her!); she just didn’t expect to display it inside a police station! Suddenly she felt a bit underdressed, but quickly brushed that thought aside and tried to apologize to Corporal Johnson without really apologizing.

"Thank you Corporal." Kris smiled as she replied. "I guess I wasn’t quite what you were expecting, was I?" A slight shake of Johnson's head answered her question. "Trust me, this isn't my normal visit-the-cop-shop outfit, but today has been anything but normal and caught me very off guard. Now, can you let Sergeant Murphy know I’m here to see him please? It's very important." Another smile seemed to put Johnson more at ease, and Kris hoped she had smoothed things over with him enough to make them both feel better.

"Yes ma'am." He picked up the phone in front of him and punched a button. "Sergeant Murphy? Corporal Johnson. A Kris Munroe from Townsend Investigations is here to see you. Yes sir." He hung up the phone and gestured towards something behind Kris.

"Please have a seat. He should be here in less than a minute."

Kris turned her head and located a row of chairs lined up against the wall behind her, then turned back. "Thank you Corporal." His smile to her after she spoke seemed very genuine to Kris, and she returned his with one of her own. She placed her identification back in her purse as she made her way to an end chair, and then sat down to wait.

Corporal Johnson was true to his word because in less than a minute a fairly tall, older officer exited from an office across the hallway from where she sat, and walked towards her. Kris rose to greet him.

"Ms Munroe? Sergeant Matt Murphy." He extended his hand as he spoke, and Kris shook it. His grip was firm, but in a good way. Along with his sincere look and smooth voice, his hand shake put Kris instantly at ease, despite the size difference between the two. Murphy was easily a foot taller than she was, but Kris didn't feel intimidated in the least.

"Sergeant Murphy, thank you for seeing me. Where can I pick up Frank Santana's personal items?" Even with Sergeant Murphy's calming effect, Kris felt the need to get what she came there for and leave as soon as she could.

"I’ve got them in my office. Please, follow me."

Kris followed the Sergeant into his office, and sat in the chair in front of his desk as he took a seat in the large, high-backed chair behind it. There was a legal-sized manila folder resting on top of the desk, with a case file number and Frank's name printed towards the opening. Her stomach began to ache (and her throat burned) with the realization that the contents of the folder used to belong to a very close friend of Charlie who was now no longer alive. She coughed once in attempt to clear her throat; it sort of worked. Her discomfort did not go unnoticed by Sergeant Murphy.

"Ms Munroe, some of us here knew Frank Santana. At least those of us who have been stationed here a while knew him. Frank was a good man." Murphy looked directly at Kris as he continued. "The boys from the 12th will do their damnedest to get whoever killed him. And I know Townsend will do the same, which makes it twice as bad for the shooter. Having said that, please do not impede the investigation in any way. If you have any information that can be used to apprehend his killer, or killers, do not keep it to yourselves. Are we clear, Ms Munroe?"

Murphy's smooth voice became more authoritative as he spoke, and Kris was positive he meant business. But so did Townsend Investigations! She tried to muster her own authoritative voice.

"Crystal, Sergeant Murphy."

A sly smile crossed Murphy's face before he slid the folder towards Kris, and she didn’t hesitate to open it. To her despair, it revealed very few items: a wallet; a set of keys; a half a pack of cigarettes, and a pen. Kris felt there should’ve been more, and the impression she got from Charlie earlier that morning he probably expected a lot more than what currently sat on the desk in front of her.

"Sergeant Murphy, may I use your phone please? I'd like to make a call."

"Townsend?" Kris nodded. "Yes you may, as long as you realize I'll be here the entire time of your call." Murphy's voice had returned (slightly) to its prior smooth tone, and he rotated the phone on his desk towards Kris.

Damn! A person could learn a lot while listening to a one-sided phone conversation, especially if that particular person was a cop. Kris knew she had to be very careful in her choice of words while talking to Charlie. She picked up the phone's receiver, pressed seven digits on the number pad, and one and a half rings later Charlie answered the phone.

"Townsend Associates."

"Charlie, its Kris. I'm sitting in Sergeant Murphy’s office, currently looking at Frank's possessions. There isn't much here I'm afraid, just his wallet, keys, cigarettes, and a pen. He should've had more than this, right?"

"Right Kris, if we are correct in the belief he was working on a case last night. There at least should have been a notepad or notebook of some sort. The pen just about proves our theory correct. Damn." Kris could sense the slight desperation in Charlie's voice while he spoke. "Is Sergeant Murphy in the office with you now?"

Kris immediately picked up on the line of thinking Charlie had begun to draw, and replied "Yes sir," as neutral as possible in an attempt to not arouse suspicion from the Sergeant. She hoped it worked.

"Okay then, this isn't going to be easy. Kris, what I need you to do is for you to get a look inside Frank's car, hopefully without an officer watching your every move. We need to know if there is anything else in that car, especially a notebook."

Charlie paused, and Kris took the hint it was her turn to speak, albeit not directly to what Charlie had just said. "The last I knew, Kelly was still at Frank’s office looking around. And I haven’t heard from Sabrina since she left the office this morning."

"Very good Kris. Now, when Frank and I worked together, we had compartments installed in our cars to hide items in. Not really hide technically; we more or less followed the old saying 'out of sight, out of mind'. The compartments were either under the dash, or under either front seat. Frank could've hidden his notebook last night and the police haven't found it yet. It's a stretch, but only one way to be positive. If that is the case and you find it, to take it out of his car and the police station would commit a fairly serious crime. I'm asking you with a huge amount of trepidation, and it is a request I do not like making at all, but my desperation is currently overruling my common sense. If you locate Frank's notebook, will you remove it from the precinct?"

Kris nodded her head a couple of times after Charlie had finished speaking; wanting to give the impression to Sergeant Murphy Charlie was still talking. What she actually was doing was seriously debating with herself on whether or not to agree to Charlie's request. Stealing potential evidence from the police? Holy shhh…! This isn’t desperation Charlie, this is madness! Deep down Kris knew he was right. If Frank had left any information in his car and she could find it and leave with it… A Sabrina saying quickly popped into her head: 'there's a fine line between madness and genius'. Kris hoped she would be on the correct side of that line by agreeing to Charlie's plan.

"You might be right, Charlie. Traffic was horrible for me; Sabrina must've been caught in some of it as well. I can go the route you suggested and hopefully miss most of the traffic on the way back to the office. I'll call Bosley from my car and let him know I'm done here. What's my next assignment?"

"Thank you for doing this Kris, I greatly appreciate it. One last item and it is also fairly serious. The condition of the car's interior will be unchanged from last night. It won't be the most pleasant area to investigate. Be very, very careful Angel. Goodbye and good luck."

"I can do that. Thanks Charlie, bye!" She hung up the phone and started to return Frank's items back inside the folder. The thought of being up close and personal with a murder scene wasn't high up on Kris' bucket list, but she knew if she could find Frank's notebook and return to the office with it, the information it potentially contained might be their only chance at finding out who killed him. After placing the last of Frank's possessions inside the folder, she sealed it and placed it in her purse. Kris began to think about possible scenarios on how she could get a look at Frank's car when Sergeant Murphy surprisingly came to her rescue.

"Anything else we can help you with, Ms Munroe?" Murphy asked. His voice seemed to have lost most of its firmness, and had found a bit of sincerity. Kris took a chance on her instinct and replied as neutral as possible in attempt to not tip her hand to him.

"Actually there is, Sergeant Murphy. Would it be possible if I could have a look inside Frank's car? I know you guys have already gone through it, but I would like to satisfy my own curiosity. Charlie doesn't know I'm asking this, so please don't tell him if he happens to ask you about it, okay? Please?" She hoped he would agree, but also knew if he did agree she most probably wouldn't be alone while she searched the car. She'd work on that problem if and when it presented itself.

"Five minutes Sergeant, please. Ten minutes max."

Sergeant Murphy looked at Kris for what seemed like an eternity, then picked up the phone's receiver and punched a button. "Corporal Johnson, I would like you escort Ms Munroe out to the impound yard to where the Santana car is located. Give her seven minutes to look through the car, and then escort her to her personal vehicle. Stay with her the entire time. Yes. Thank you." He placed the receiver back on the phone's cradle, and said to Kris in a voice that she imagined made him very popular with the ladies.

"What can I say? I have a soft spot for blondes."

Kris began to feel the warmth of a blush begin before it was immediately cooled off when Sergeant Murphy spoke again in his authoritative voice. "Meet Corporal Johnson at the duty desk, and he will escort you to impound. Seven minutes Ms Munroe; use them wisely."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GWI: Sergeant Matt Murphy shares the same name as Matt "Guitar" Murphy, lead guitarist for the 'Blues Brothers' ;-)
> 
> Sorry if this is a bit long winded:
> 
> While I've been posting to this I had hoped my writer's bloc would've cleared & I could continue this story. Alas, it is still there & still solid. I have 1 complete chapter & 2 partial chapters already written for this story, & the bummer is 1 of the partial chapters was supposed to follow this one (with the complete chapter to follow that, then the 2nd partial chapter). The 2nd partial chapter is key, because it is where the Angels go over all the clues/evidence to the case they had gathered, & it sets up a revealing moment personally between the Angels (which I have already posted a first version of here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/7296061/chapters/16570240 I already know I'll be adjusting those 3 chapters to fit the overall arc of this story, but the main idea will be the same). I still want to finish 'Angels' Law', because I like the story, love the characters (Kris...swoon), & have the ending already in my head. I will not abandon this story, but it might be some time before I post again.
> 
>  
> 
> This work has not been beta'd, so all mistakes are entirely self inflicted.


End file.
